Dreams fulfilled and stories told
by Velasa
Summary: My first fic and in serious need of a rewrite. If you plan on reading anyway don't expect high art, I started it in '99 and it hasn't aged well.
1. Dreaming

Dreams fulfilled - and stories told.  
By Velasa  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Note: Basically none of this complies to the future Z timeline. I have heard and learned a good bit about the following sagas, but since I have only seen the Sayian + Frezia sagas, these two are the only ones I formatted my story to fit. The beginning paragraph is set five years after the defeat of Frezia. It has been mostly peaceful, but they have met, fought, and defeated the androids even though I allotted no time for it, because #18 is one of my characters. As for the Cell and Buu sagas and Dragonball Gt? I haven't formally written them out of my timeline (except maybe Gt), but I just haven't had them happen yet in this fanfic.  
And there are a few problems between the current show and my story. I brought Dendea back, but since he's suppose to come back anyway, that not much of one. The real problem is that some of the ages are off, but only after I had written about 40 pages did I realize this, so I didn't really try to change it too much. In my second paragraph, the ages that are out of line are Trunks' and Goten's. In the second paragraph, Trunks is 8 and Goten is 7, but at a later point in the story when Vegeta is thinking back to a time before the first paragraph, Goten and Trunks are the same age. So, everyone else gets older while Goten and Trunks stay little. Besides that, the ages are in chronological order. And as for the people who would be 40 or older? They've been wished to be younger. They're the same in actual years, but not in spirit and ability.  
But...  
Before I let you go on to the fanfic, I leave you with a warning. Some of the character's attitudes towards different things, such as each other, have changed dramatically!! And some of the new characters I have introduced are totally unpredictable and shocking to an unsuspecting reader. Especially the first of them. And, if some of you fans who hate changes in your favorite characters want my head by the third word, that's perfectly understandable. She is quite a shock. I've looked around the Internet, and found nothing like her, so there's no warning, no guesses that can lead to who, or more specifically, what she is. ((NOTE- Well, when I wrote this story, it was all brand-new ideas that I had never seen the like of before, since I never went on the internet- I know better now.))  
Sorry for keeping you so long, I do tend to go on if given 1/2 a chance. And I give full credit to LIVE (mention of two songs, "We Walk in the Dream" and "Pillar of Davidson"), Blizzard Entertainment + all their affiliates (mention of Protoss), and all the affiliates of Z (this whole thing is about Z) for the use of their material in my fanfic. Oh, on the frying pan thing- As with everything else, I wrote this story long before I went on the internet, so I didn't purposely steal any gags. I do not own the rights to any of the characters or such in this story, except those originally created by me.  
  
One last note, {{ is the beginning of a thought, and }} is the end. Now for my fanfic. Enjoy! Or not...   
  
((NOTE- the beginning of this was written a LONG time ago, so it sorta sucks. And if you feel like you've missed something, you have- it's because I work backwards- saying something first and explaining it later. Everything will be explained in time.))  
  
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___Chapter 1___  
  
Piccolo and Oboe sat in the fading twilight as Vegeta flew off home, soaring through the sky with a screaming Bulma being held only with one hand. As real night approached, Oboe suddenly shivered.   
  
The sudden movement caught Piccolo's eye, and he glanced over at her and whispered "What? Is it too cold out here?"  
  
Oboe cocked her head to the side. "No, it's not that. I just remembered this dream I've been having lately." she said softly as they sat on the high tower of rock and watched the last light of day disappear. Oboe yawned slightly, stretching her muscles and flipping her antennae out of her face before continuing. "It's not a dream, actually, more of a nightmare..."  
  
She began speaking, the disturbing images playing in her mind for the thousandth time that day. Her voice threatened to crack, but she continued talking without allowing her emotions to win her over. "Then someone comes, and...." Oboe choked on her own spit at that point, and buried her face in her hands.  
  
Piccolo sighed, turned his head the rest of the way toward her, lifted her head with one hand and said "It's ok. A dream is just a dream, nothing more. You don't need to cry." He wiped the back of his hand gently across her face, cupped her cheek, and flicked one last tear away, whispering "There. That's better." softly as he stroked his fingers across her face.  
  
Her eyes glanced down at the hand on her cheek, and she glanced back up at his face and mumbled "But what if it isn't 'just a dream'? What if I loose you?" Her voice was calm, but her sapphire eyes were downcast.  
  
Piccolo just smiled, and lay his arms by his sides. "Three reasons why not. One, my friends wouldn't let that happen. Two, I wouldn't leave you. Three, who could possibly be strong enough to beat me? Now stop crying. I've never seen you so sappy in my life. You've been hanging around Chi-chi and Bulma too long. You're starting to whine like them." Oboe flared up at the last few sentences.  
  
"Whine?!? Sappy?!? I'm gonna kick your ass now!" Oboe yelled at him as she jerked up, standing with her hands on her hips. He stood up and crossed his arms, a small sarcastic smile on his face.  
  
"That's why I love you. You're brave, strong, and won't back down to anyone. There are more, but that's enough of that. Now forget about that silly dream. Let's go home."   
  
She put her arms down, smiled, and said, "You're sweet." Then she gave him a kiss.   
  
He just threw her an annoyed look and said, "You know I hate it when you do that." Oboe gently slapped his face and laughed   
  
"You're pathetic. There's no one around, you can drop the stupid image thing." A little 'knowing' smirk passed her face as she finished with "And you're calling me sappy."   
  
"Oh, yeah." he smiled softly, and continued, saying "Thanks for the reminder, darling." as he swept her up in his arms, and kissed her briefly. Then they flew off to the area of forested mountains they called home.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It is now seven years later. All of the Z fighters have rarely seen each other, except Goku and Vegeta, who practiced together a good bit, their sons (who threatened death [or worse- crying to their mothers] if not allowed to see each other) and Yumcha, Krillan, Tien, and Chautzu- who were on tour as their rock band 'The Headbangers' which they just formed on a whim (and a dare) one day, and decided to stay together because they were good. Kami-sama saw everyone, except for his 'son' and Oboe-san. He hadn't even heard a word from the two, but he had a good feeling that they were doing fine. Kami always could sense how Piccolo was doing...  
  
And it was Kami who asked all of them to meet that day seven years after they last encountered each other.   
  
The message got out when Goku had stopped by, and asked if there was any way he could get the others together on the sanctuary for a reunion. The god consented, and sent the message out to each of the Z-senshi via mind speech. A date was sent for two weeks later, and when the day arrived, Goku came first with Goten.   
  
The sayian-jin landed on the edge of the Tenkai, his hair still whipping slightly in the breeze his ki had made when he dispelled it, and no sooner had he been about to ask about food when Goku's mind detected six familiar chi powers in the west.  
  
Kami tilted his head to the side, and said "Yumcha, Tien, Chautzu, and Krillan." as he looked at Son and smiled "They're arriving almost as quickly as you."  
  
Goku nodded, and was about to speak when Goten ran up, exclaiming "Where's Trunks!!! I wanna see Trunks!" as he leapt up and down between the two, his fists balled in indigence.  
  
Goku laughed, put his hand on Goten's head, and said "You just saw him three days ago."  
  
"Three days is a long time!"  
  
"No it-"  
  
"Yes it is!"  
  
It continued like this for three minutes straight.  
  
And would have longer, if eight people hadn't landed behind the bickering sayians at about that moment. Goku turned his head, and laughed out "Hi guys, girls!" to the four men and their wives/girlfriends/girl friends.  
  
Everyone returned the greeting, but one voice came low and angry from the back.  
  
"Goku......."  
  
The spiky haired man in question cringed, squeaking out "hi.... Chi-chi.." while the wife he had tried to leave behind (for the sake that she'd insist on telling his friends how much of bad men they were) glared angrily at him.  
  
Amazingly, she forgave him (without smashing something over his head), but not before he begged.  
  
Another chi force appeared on the lookout then, followed by a bright yellow helicopter with the "Capsule Corp" logo on the side. Bulma hopped out quickly once it landed, young Trunks running out from behind her to get to Goten.  
  
The sayianjin who had flown alongside was not as happy as the two. One look at his fellow kneeling before Chi-chi was enough to make him sick.  
  
"Groveling before some stupid woman... Kakkarott! You are sayian! Do not let that onna command you!" Vegeta growled, but exactly then Bulma smashed him over the head with a frying pan she produced from thin air.   
  
A tall, willowy shape with flowing black hair down to her knees and a kimono-style red dress walked forward and said "It seems like you, Chi-chi, and Ranchi can do that, make weapons appear from nowhere."  
  
Bulma flashed a peace sign, and laughed "Yen! Nice to see you! How are you and Tienshinhan doing?"  
  
"Fine." Yen said, her third eye hidden by her bangs for a second as she nodded.  
  
(a little background) Yen just appeared in the middle of one of their training sessions one day, and she and Tien, who had known each other as children, fell for each other after a relatively short time. They were married a short while before the gang split up. And Puar had somehow gotten stuck as a little human with blue hair and a tail. She could still transform and fly, but her normal form is now a human. She and Chautzu have been pretty close friends over the last few years. Yumcha and Ranchi started dating after Bulma set up her lonely old boyfriend with her, and they were nearly inseparable, because he still hasn't forgotten about how he lost his last girl. (Now, back to the story.)  
  
Vegeta recovered from his 'injury' in time to see Gohan and Videl step onto the lookout. The sayian then smiled in his own way, and declared, "Looks like everyone's h..." his voice came to a sudden halt as his eyes scanned the crowd. {{wait a second!}} Veg's mind said, followed by his mumbling "Where's the green bean?" to noone in particular.  
  
Gohan's face grew concerned as he stated "Actually, I haven't seen him at all in the last seven years. What about you guys?"  
  
They all said it in different ways, but 'no' was the unanimous answer. That knowledge was followed by furrowed brows and degrees of concern showing on all faces, because not hearing from a person in a world as dangerous as theirs was now a good sign at all.   
  
{{He can't be dead at least.}} thought Vegeta to himself after a quick glance at Kami-sama, who was talking to a very upset Gohan, who was being calmed down by his soon to be wife Videl.   
  
The air felt amazingly still, and the humidity did nothing but to accent that feeling. The original dragonball gang conversed in a corner, mumbling quietly to each other. Yen was with them, the two young boys played tag off to the side, and Vegeta was getting a bit anxious almost to know what was going on. Then the silence was sharply broken by a sigh, and everyone looked up to hear someone say "Can't you guys have more faith in me? I can take care of myself!"   
  
Gohan couldn't help but smile when he heard that voice, and twirled around to shout "Piccolo!! I missed you soo much!!" as he ran up to greet his teacher/mentor/idol.  
  
When Piccolo could pull away from Gohan, Bulma immediately noticed something out of the ordinary. Piccolo informed her (upon being asked) that Oboe was going to be an hour or so late.  
  
---  
  
Everyone was having a good time, but Vegeta noticed that Piccolo had a strange look to him when anyone asked him what had been going on lately. Like he was holding something back. The sayian got exasperated when he got the same reaction, and the same reply, basically "No change.", and angrily dragged him off to a more secluded area of the lookout.   
  
---  
  
"Ok. What's going on Piccolo? You're not telling the whole truth. What happened?" Vegeta yelled at the tall namek.   
  
He only sighed. "Vegeta, you'll see in a while. I wanted this to be normal for a while before it got turned upsi-down. Let's just say I have something surprising to tell you guys." Piccolo smirked as he looked down at the sayian's exasperated look.   
  
{{How dare he not tell me! I am the moron's... *grumbles* Well, I haven't said it to his face yet, but he knows it...}} thought Vegeta annoyidly, but then he just rolled his eyes and admitted, "I'm not going to get any answers out of you when you're like this. If you won't even tell Kakkarott's brat, no way in hell you're telling me. Sometimes I think that little punk is more like your son than hi--" Vegeta stopped dead for a few seconds, and exclaimed "What in the name of god is THAT!!" as the warrior suddenly felt a strong power approach.   
  
"Holy.." Piccolo muttered, eyes widening.  
  
Vegeta nodded. Whatever matter of thing this was, it was strong. And, as the two realized at once, the Z-senshi were at a huge disadvantage, with more than just warriors in the line of fire.  
  
---  
  
They rushed back to the others immediately. Piccolo went right to their immediate problem, yelling to those who were not of the ten Z-senshi "You 9, get inside! From what I remember, you have somewhere in there where you can get to ground level, right? And where's Dendea anyway?"   
  
Goku glanced at the two, cocked his eyes, and muttered "Huh?", a plate of noodles shoved halfway into his face.  
  
Vegeta glared at him, and said "Just look over there *gestures to where he detected the chi signal* ." Goku's eyes widened immediately, and the plate went smashing to the ground as he dropped it. "NOW do you see what I mean, Kakkarott?"  
  
"...Yes...." Goku whispered shakily.  
  
Chaos reined in the air as Chi-chi moaned loudly, and fainted. Piccolo ignored it, shouting again "Where is Dendea!"  
  
Out of the shadow of the grand building's door came a smaller, running as fast as it's little legs could take it. Panting slightly from running so fast, Dendea exclaimed "I'm here! Something evil is coming! I can feel it!"  
  
Upon looking up and seeing the serious faces of the warriors, he was told all he needed to know. Dendea turned to the girls and the two who lived on the sanctuary and cautioned "Come on. We're just going to get in their way if we stay out here."  
  
"What about me?" #18 questioned, arms crossed and cool blue eyes narrowed.  
  
Krillan broke in, saying "Somebody's gotta protect you guys if we get distracted. You, Videl, and Yen need to stay with the others."  
  
#18's eyes lowered themselves as she realized he was right. The girls said their good-byes, and as they were led into the heart of the lookout by Popo, Kami stopped in mid-stride beside Piccolo.  
  
The old god looked straight into his counterpart's questioning onyx eyes, and said "Be careful, my son. Not just for our sakes, but for all's." Then he turned, and disappeared into the darkness of the doorway, his cape whipping slowly behind him.   
  
Piccolo only turned his attention from that spec of white in the blackness when Dendea started speaking with Son Goku, and only caught the end of the conversation. "Tell me if anyone needs help. They'll all be safe at the base of the tower, and I shall stay up here." and he ran off to a safer area, ready to help, but not to fight.  
  
Piccolo glanced back at the entrance to the lookout in silence.  
  
{{What does he mean by that crap??}} he whispered in his mind. The wind rippled his cape softly, giving him an almost regal look as he stood there without moving, a single thought in his head for that short time.  
  
{{Damn you Kami.}} he cursed under his breath. 


	2. Another fight?

___Chapter 2___  
  
Krillan looked at where Dendea had gone, and then turned around and smirked. "You know, guys, it has been too good to be true. Peace for almost a solid twelve years! Now we're back to the old business of people trying to destroy earth, kill us all, and rule the universe." The balding monk let out a mock sigh, holding his hands out to his sides with palms up.  
  
Yumcha just smiled back at him and challenged "Just hope you've all been keeping up with your training. I sure have."   
  
Tienshin laughed. "You just worry about yourself. I doubt that we're the only ones who have improved upon our skills."   
  
"Yeah! Tien and I have gotten a lot stronger!!" proclaimed Chautzu with a happy smile on his face.   
  
Goten and Trunks let their feelings be known loudly, cheering "We're gonna rock this guy! He 's gonna regret the day he messed with us!" The two overconfident youths smirked and slapped a high five, yelling "Sayians rock!!"   
  
This got a few laughs, but then Gohan exclaimed "I can see it!!" as a small shape appeared in the distance. "No, wait a sec... I know that aura... Oboe!!!"   
  
---  
"And there's someone behind her! No, two! You better warn her, Piccolo!"  
  
But before Gohan finished his last sentence, Piccolo had ricocheted off in a flurry of energy toward the three shapes in the sky (and was now to far away to see except as a black spec).   
  
When he reached the first, Oboe, she promptly went to ground level with Kami and the others, but as the second shape reached him shortly after, it lingered there as the third closed the distance. The two appeared to be speaking, and then they heard Piccolo scream out, cursing "Just get down there, damn it!" and the little shape, almost reluctantly, went to ground level. Ki blasts rocked through the sky as the third shape reached the lone fighter. No one could really see what was going on, they just stood there and tried to figure out the tides of battle from the fluctuating powers.   
  
"Here comes a blast guys! Move!" screamed Goku as he grabbed Vegeta's arm and rushed from a huge burst of energy that landed where they had been standing seconds ago.  
  
---  
As the dust mingled in the air, Vegeta swore, exclaiming "GET OFF ME KAKKAROT!!"  
  
White flitted through the air gently, but roughly when the breeze caught a raged hole.  
  
As the dust cleared, all nine peered into the rather large crater which now occupied the spot, and saw that more than a ki attack had hit the platform. A bruised, bloody, and beaten Piccolo also climbed out of it. The fighters rushed over to see what had happened, and Piccolo only mumbled disjointedly "Did anyone get the number of that bus?" as his cape careened around his form, hiding it.  
  
Gohan went up to his friend, and started to ask him what happened when the young sayian's arm brushed up against the white fabric, bumping it into Piccolo's arm. It seems like that would be nothing, but it caused him to jump back in pain and scream out a quick string of curses. Then they saw why, as the wind blew his cape away from him. He was nearly covered in burns and open wounds, as if he had been attacked by some wild animal, a particularly nasty burn on the arm Gohan had accidentally touched.   
  
Vegeta walked up slowly, and coaxed with the slightest note of concern "You should go see Dendea. This way." as he shot a look at the others, challenging them to make a comment. Noone did, and he led the wounded warrior over to he other side of the lookout where the young healer was.   
  
---  
  
Dendea's eyes widened in shock when he saw them approach, and he stammered, "By the gods, what happened to him!?! I only left you less than five minutes ago! Give me your hand, Piccolo." He did as the young healer wished and almost yelled out again when Dendea touched his tattered skin, but he caught himself in time and only a quick grimace betrayed any pain he felt.  
  
Piccolo hated how he had sounded before, and cursed himself inwardly for the display of weakness. But now he was getting better by the second, and ready to return to the battle, which was just about ready to start.  
  
But, instead of thanking the little namekisan-jin, Piccolo merely glared at him and growled "You just wasted your time. I could have fixed my arm myself."  
  
"And what about the rest of you?"  
  
No reply came that time, and as they rushed back to the others, Vegeta asked, "What does this guy look like? Any race we know?"   
  
Piccolo just smirked and shook his head, answering "No clue. I just know it's a really good shot. I was in the middle of my fastest burst of speed yet when it nailed me with that blast that sent me over here."   
  
Vegeta was shocked at that, but stopped the look from coming on his face. They got to the others just as the creature landed amid them...  
  
---  
The first impression they got from it was a rather unbalanced one. It had two legs that were twice the height of its body, and a tail and arms of the same length. But the main feature of this... this thing... was the skin on its back, arms, tail, and legs. When it stood still or moved slowly, it just looked like a coat of pins, about an inch long each, hanging on it. But when it moved swiftly.... Picture a chainsaw. Picture it on. The way the teeth on the saw move? That's what the 'pins', which were actually spines, on it were like when it moved swiftly. It had a snakelike head with two wicked scimitar-type blades atop it that were as long as it's neck, a foot long. A huge scythe a yard long on it's tail. Claws on its hands and feet that were five-inch razorblades. The tallest of the fighters was only shoulder-high to this monstrosity, giving it a good two feet over Piccolo and Tien. Spikes stuck randomly out of its 'coat' of spines, that varied from three to eight inches long.  
  
"I am Kartak. I come to kill." It said in a sinuous voice that matched it's bladed body.   
  
"What the hell is that?" muttered Vegeta with a confused/edgy look to his face.  
  
"I am Kartak. I have come to kill. We fight, or Kartak just kill?"  
  
Now everyone was edgy.   
  
Calmly, Goku spoke up and asked "Why?"   
  
"Because Kartak kills. Who will fight Kartak first? Who will die by Kartak first?" Then the creature hissed, and revealed hundreds upon hundreds of razor-sharp teeth lining its jaws, and, except for two long snakelike fangs, buzzing around like the teeth of a chainsaw.  
  
The warriors were prepared for a fight, and were just about to begin charging up when Kartak closed it's eyes, and stretched it's head back and mouth open, almost as in a yawn, and said "Kartak will wait to kill. Prepare, enemies of Kartak." Then it sat down and shut its red, reptilian eyes.  
  
"Hey! How long are you waiting? And why are you doing this? It's not gonna help you at all!!" yelled out Yumcha irritably.  
  
"How long Kartak wants Kartak waits. Kartak does not know time enemies are ready, so Kartak does not know when to attack. Whenever."   
  
Kartak would not say another word, and when Krillan whispered "Somebody keep an eye on that thing." Chautzu volunteered, watching it as the others talked over how to fight it, 'Kartak' as it called itself. They probably would have attacked it head on, right then and there, but the truth was, the mindlessness of it all was confusing. They couldn't make heads or tails of this thing. It was definitely powerful, so why was it resting? And they also felt a strange darkness emanating from it, that scared them, deep in their souls.  
  
They were afraid. 


	3. Nerves

___Chapter 3___  
  
Back at ground level, everyone was sitting down when Bulma barely spotted the three shapes far in the distance with a high-powered pair of binoculars she had popped out of a hoi-poi capsule.   
  
"What!? Three enemies!?! I thought it was usually just one at a time!" Yen yelled when Bulma reported the news.  
  
"Well don't ask me" Bulma said roughly as she glanced back into the binoculars, Yen sweatdropping in the background. "Hey! There goes someone from our side! Not sure though... too fast... Wait a sec, it's Piccolo I think. Yeah!" she then announced as she kept watch and informed the others to what was happening.   
  
When she saw one of those shapes far in the distance suddenly fly towards them, though, she screamed.  
  
Videl, 18, and Yen stepped in front of the others, ready to defend them, but then the tension calmed as Yen laughed out "Oboe! Where have you been babe?"  
  
The namekian landed and smiled, but turned around quickly as she heard Piccolo scream, and the second shape descended into the woods nearby. Oboe rolled her eyes and shoved her face into her hand, but then she looked up, smiled, and said "What's going on? Piccolo didn't have enough time to tell me, he just said there was danger and I should come down here. I..."  
  
Oboe stopped talking suddenly when she glared at something behind her friends and said "Kami-sama! What just happened? You had a horrified look on your face a second ago, don't try to tell me it was nothing."   
  
He looked up, a look almost like guilt on his features, and said in his quiet voice "Piccolo encountered the enemy just shortly after you landed here, and however brief, the battle has not fared well for him. In under a minute, he's been hit by twelve substantial ki blasts and sliced more times that I can count. Just then he was smashed into the side of the sanctuary by a huge ki blast. We can only hope they can get him to Dendea in time, before the creature attacks again."   
  
Oboe's eyes went wide, and she unconsciously touched the ring on her right arm that Piccolo had given some years ago. Her dream... like so many others... was coming true...  
  
Yen's face was quiet as she watched her friend since age eleven's eyes shoot wide, stumbling slightly. Yen walked up behind her, put her hand on her shoulder, and said with a knowing look to her face "He can take care of himself. Don't you go worrying about the boys, this isn't the first time they've done this. They know what they're doing. And they have Dendea up there if things get too bad for any of them, anyway. OK?"   
  
Oboe then smiled again, and then sat down with the other girls. {{But I can't help but worry.}} Oboe thought to herself.  
  
She touched her ring again, and clasp her hand tightly around it. {{Come out of this alive, my love.}}  
  
---  
When Kami first spoke of what was happening in the battle at Oboe's question, an eleventh pair of ears also picked up on the conversation. The second shape that had been in the sky was no more than a boy. He was only six, though he looked nearly twice his age, and clad in a brownish-black gi and a white belt. He was very strong for six, but was still young, and slightly a brat at times.  
  
When he heard what Kami said, his first reaction was concern, but then he thought {{He deserved it, though. He didn't need to curse at me so loud. I just wanted to help fight.}} But even then, he knew he was wrong. {{Nah, that's not right. I shouldn't think about anoco like that, even if he does yell, he's just trying to keep me safe.}}  
  
The boy smiled.  
  
He was getting really good at remembering the language his dad was teaching him. N something.  
  
---  
Kartak sat in silence. The thoughts going through his mind were as simple as he was. 'Kill' was the predominant thought, but also 'patience', 'suffering' and 'surprise'. Kartak was the perfect killing machine. He would do whatever his master told, and before his master died, he had told Kartak to 'kill', and burnt into his mind were the images of those to whom he would bring Armageddon.  
  
The enemy. The enemy was standing together as far away from him as 'the battleground' (Kami's lookout to us) would allow them to be.  
  
{{Fear. The enemy's fear is good. Makes enemy easier to kill.}}  
  
Kartak just waited. He would know when to strike.  
  
---  
Meanwhile, the warriors struggled to figure out how to attack this thing.   
  
"Forget the physical attacks. You'll just impale yourself. Even where it looks like just hard skin, it's actually razored scales. I should know. I tried that, and got sliced sixty ways before I could blink. And it HURT like hell. *grimaces involuntarily at remembering it* I say we stick with the ki attacks." Piccolo said as he recounted how his short battle had gone.   
  
"That thing has to be amazingly good at tracking targets. You said you were going at full speed when it nailed you with that blast that smashed you into the tower." Tien said, his eyes looking faraway as he stared into the empty air. He knew he was onto something, but... If only he could figure out what that was...   
  
It took the childlike logic of Goten to figure out what that something was. "If it can track us, then we should all attack at once! Try to foul up whatever senses it has!"   
  
"But what I don't get is why it just sits there. It could have attacked an hour ago and gotten a huge advantage!" Trunks rebuked to his friend.   
  
Yumcha turned and said "It's trying to unnerve us. We're all loosing our cool and getting panicked. If we're like this, we can't work as a team!"   
  
Chautzu then added to the conversation as he watched Kartak, saying in his psychic voice "Guys, I think this thing is like an assassin or something. I know what it feels like to be stalked by someone like that. No offense Tienshin, but I do. Everything about it is so simple. I looked inside its mind. It said something about a 'master'. I think this is one of our old friend Dr. Gero's creations, like the androids were. Maybe it's a sort of biological weapon left over from his lab before it was destroyed."   
  
"That would be really bad. Let's hope not." Goku frowned, crossing his arms as he pushed some dust around with his foot.  
  
Krillan, summing up in his head all that was said, added to it by saying "So, our best bet is that everyone goes their fastest at once. But what kind of ki attacks?"   
  
Gohan turned to look at Kartak, looked back at the warriors, and said "I have a good feeling about the cutting or slicing attacks. Sorta like a 'fight fire with fire' kind of thing. Beams. How about we get kameahmeah, ki-enzan, soukidan, makankousappou, shin kikoho, and whatever attack you think would be effective, Chautzu. Something that I think will help us substantially is allot of circling, judging by what Piccolo, Tien, and my brother said. I think if we do that, we just might get him."   
  
Vegeta frowned at Gohan, and almost pouting, said "Brat, I don't know any of those attacks!!"  
  
Piccolo rolled his eyes, and said with a smirk "Use whatever. Just something that will blow right through this guy. And WON'T blow up the planet while you're at it!" Piccolo had to fight pretty hard to keep a smile appearing on his face, or laughing at the exasperated look to Vegeta.   
  
The sayian scowled, and yelled back "I don't WANT to blow up the planet anymore, damnit!! And you're not the one to talk, Piccolo... From what I've heard, you wanted to take over the world not too long ago, right?"   
  
The smirk was gone, and Piccolo scowled back, saying "What's past is past. Now let's stop fighting each other and go fight our real enemy."  
  
The smile inside had also faded.  
  
{{And anyway, it was just a....... joke...}} Piccolo thought silently, looking at Vegeta with a bit of anger. He wiped that off his mind before he could think much about it, though. There were more important issues to attend to currently.  
  
Kartak then opened his eyes as he saw the enemies rush toward him. "Time to kill..."  
  
---  
On the ground, they all gathered not far from Kami in order to hear what was going on. Chi-chi had not yet awoken. Puar and Ranchi were really shaken, but the others stood firm as he informed them about the battle.   
  
Every one of the fighters was injured rather badly. All their ki attacks had only shaved off one of its arms, which regenerated after all the spines flew off like shrapnel in every direction. An eight-inch long spike would have blown straight through Chautzu, but he dodged quickly, and it only got lodged into his shoulder. Tien lost his third eye to a mass of the smaller spines. Puar and Ranchi had fainted by then, it was too much for them.   
  
Kami looked up, and said gravely, "It seems you who remain are the strongest in your hearts. If you wish, I will help you to see the actual battle through your mind's eye. Do you think you can bear it?"   
  
The girls, surprised at this new proposal, looked at each other, at a loss for words.  
  
Oboe was the first one to whisper, "Yes". She had to know what was happening to him...  
  
Videl, Yen, #18, and even Bulma agreed in turn.   
  
Kami nodded, and said, "Put your hand on this staff and concentrate on the battle. You will see it if you truly wish to enough." They closed their eyes on the ground, and they first heard, then saw, the battle above.   
  
Yen gasped in mind speech, which she had just discovered she could use in a state like this, and whispered, {{It's... horrible!!}}  



	4. Cheap shots

___Chapter 4___  
  
It WAS horrible. Anything the warriors tried only ended up in more pain. Goku attempted a ki-powered kick to the monster's neck, but Kartak only maneuvered his head in front of the sayian's foot, ready to saw it off. It almost was, but Krillan tackled him seconds before that happened.   
  
He flew so fast to get to Goku though, that Goten was knocked over by the force of the wind as he passed. When Trunks bent down to help his friend up, Kartak seized the moment and hurled a huge spike at the boy that went at such speed, Trunk's arm was ripped clean off as it connected with his shoulder. Trunks stood dumbfoundedly staring at the bloody stump, not able to comprehend that his arm was gone just like that.   
  
Then the pain hit him, and he cursed like a drunken sailor for a second before passing out two later from the blood loss. Goten grabbed him immediately and rushed at full force to their healer.   
  
Vegeta got extremely pissed off at that, and powered up to blast Kartak sky high, when once again the creature took advantage of his opponent's unawareness and gashed Vegeta's back with his foot claws, the prince swearing in sayianjin as he fell like a stone to the ground.  
  
But Piccolo lifted up his friend's limp form, and muttered "Like son, like father. Gotta get him to Dendea. Too bad that kid only has a limited amount of energy to heal with." As he flew off towards the far side of the lookout.   
  
Kartak saw the movement from battle this time.  
  
---  
The younger sayians rushed back to the battlefield as Dendea ran up to the next person needing his aid.   
  
"Not another one!! First you, then Yumcha, then Goku, then Trunks, now Vegeta! It must be really bad for you guys out there." Dendea said as he grimaced slightly at the sayian's injuries, and healed him.   
  
He looked up, about to say he was finished, when he stopped suddenly in the middle of his sentence, a look of horror overshadowing his small face, and he froze with his mouth wide open.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Vegeta questioned irritably.  
  
Dendea only pointed behind the two and yelled out an unintelligible wail of utter fear. The fighters twisted around just in time to be greeted a crushing blow to the ground by a heavily spiked tail. Two screams rang out as those spines dug deep into their backs, and then were ripped out mercilessly as Kartak jerked his tail back up.  
  
Kartak stared inquisitively at Dendea, like a cat staring at a trapped mouse. "Kartak not told to kill this? Is Kartak? Kartak kill small one anyway." He said as he pushed him off the side of the tower with a sphere of energy.  
  
Piccolo shook himself into consciousness just in time to see this. Only powered by his rage, he screamed out "DENDEA!!!" and staggered up and over to the side. The little namekian was nowhere to be seen. Then he turned to the monster who had attacked their healer, their only hope of staying alive in all probability, and only a child at that.  
  
"You damn..." Piccolo muttered as he charged up a masenka "SHARUKUS!!!" he cursed out in his native tongue as he let the energy fly.   
  
Vegeta opened his eyes to an explosion, and when he finally could, all he could see was his friend, exhausted and in a decent amount of pain. "Huh? Nice shot Piccolo. Hey, where's the kid!?!" the sayian stuttered as he realized the sudden disappearance of the two.   
  
"That bitch shot Dendea off the edge of the tower and it's... still alive! Shit! Back with the others already, let's GO!!" first said, then yelled the fuming namekian. The two then flew off to the ever continuing battle.  
  
---  
After Dendea was shoved off the edge, he was knocked unconscious by the blast's explosion. He never felt it when someone picked him up out of the air and landed in the forest.   
  
The first thing Dendea saw upon waking was the hazy forest canopy high above him, but then he sat up, shook his head, and muttered "W-where... am I?"  
  
"In the woods. I saw you falling and got you before you hit the ground. If I hadn't, you'd be dead now."  
  
Dendea turned around to see who was talking and nearly toppled over and fainted when he saw the speaker. "Oh my god!!! You're a namekian!! Who are you!!!!" he yelled out in utter shock.  
  
"That's that word! Never could remember it. Namekian. Yeah, that's what I am. And my name is Lute. Yours?" smiled Lute.  
  
Dendea smiled back, sensing only good in his heart, and replied "Dendea. What are you doing out here anyway? It's dangerous with all the fighting."  
  
Lute sighed. "I wanted to fight. But I've been told not to. My anoco told me I'm not allowed."  
  
"Who's you're anoco?" Dendea said, not really expecting an answer he'd care about.  
  
"Piccolo's his name."  
  
Dendea just stared for about five seconds straight, too shocked to move, and this time he did faint. {{Wait till Kami hears this!!}} he thought with a laugh to himself as he blacked out.  
  
---  
Everyone was distressed at the apparent loss of their healer. "How are we gonna survive without him? Damn!" Goku yelled irritably, slamming his fist into the ruin of a wall. Kartak had decided to stop fighting and sit down again. He was succeeding well in unnerving the fighters.  
  
Gohan smirked, and mocked "Dad, I'm shocked!" Even in this serious time, they couldn't help but laugh, or at least smile. Gohan continued his act, he knew when he was on a roll. "You can forget about kint'oin. Pure of heart people don't use such language." he said, sticking out his pointer finger and waving it in front of his father's face as he clicked his tongue.  
  
Even Goku chuckled that time, and then he rolled his eyes and replied "It's not the first time son, and you've thrown your share of it. Now let's stop playing around and get back to the matter at hand. We've already had one casualty, and the whole time we've been killing ourselves out there he hasn't been phased at all."   
  
This brought them all back to reality and they decided to try spheres of energy.  
  
"Ok, let's GO!!!!!" yelled Yumcha as they tossed aside their weighted training clothes and began another attack.  



	5. Dead or alive

___Chapter 5___  
  
The girls felt like they were standing off to the side, watching the fight. Vegeta, Piccolo, Goku, Gohan, Krillan, Yumcha, Chautzu, Tien, Trunks, and Goten were slowly forming a loose circle around Kartak, who hadn't yet moved. Kartak didn't even glance at them, the combined efforts of these ten fighters hadn't touched him yet!  
  
But... he didn't, through a slight flaw during his creation, know about fluctuating power levels. And he wasn't that good at sensing hidden power either. Every one of his opponents was at least twice as strong and fast then during their earlier battle, and he didn't have the slightest clue.  
  
So, it came to him as a total shock when they disappeared, and he couldn't find them, until all ten appeared a foot away from him and blasted him at point-blank range.   
  
{{Yes! Yes! I think they got it!!}} yelled Bulma, {{They were five inches from it's face, damnit, it BETTER be dead!!}}  
  
The dust cleared, revealing only a huge crater and ten exhausted warriors.  
  
{{It's over!! It's really over!! I knew they'd pull through!}} Videl exclaimed happily.  
  
Yen glanced over at Oboe and smirked {{I TOLD you, babe! Yeah, they're a little worse for wear, but they're all OK. Noone's died. Your baby's perfectly fine. *cracks out laughing*}}  
  
Oboe only dignified that joke with a scowl as Yen thanked Kami and broke contact, followed by the others.  
  
But before any of them could say a word, Oboe out of nowhere laughed out loud and blasted straight up, toward the top of the tower. Yen and Bulma started laughing.  
  
"She can be so impatient sometimes!!" Bulma said with a smile, "They'll be coming down soon enough!"  
  
Yen just shook her head. "Well, that's Oboe for you. *smiles* I guess she just wants to make sure she's not imagining things."  
  
"Yeah..." Bulma whispered, almost jealous.  
  
What she wouldn't do to have Vegeta love her that much...  
  
---  
Oboe rocked up to the top of the tower and yelled out "Hey, Piccolo!".  
  
He cocked an eyebrow, turned around, and said "Oboe!" as she ran forward and hugged him.  
  
"You poor boys! Are you alright?" she asked, bright blue eyes shining as she kissed him, and said "Kami helped us to see the battle. It was really bad for you guys." She kissed him again, her lips lingering on his for some time. Then she hugged him tighter, glad he was alive, and whispered as she dug her face into his shoulder, "You were right about dreams just being dreams."  
  
He laughed softly, and said "If you want an answer, give me the room to talk! We'll both be OK love. The only hard thing will be getting the dragonballs to wish Dendea back. And fix the lookout while we're at it, the thing's an unholy mess if you haven't noticed."  
  
"Dendea?"  
  
Vegeta had been holding his tongue the whole time, even as hundreds of possible comments passed through his head. He knew what happened when he interrupted the two namekians during one of their 'loving moments'. Piccolo would jump him and slam him into the ground or a wall or whatever other expression of anger he chose at that second. But pain was nothing to Vegeta, there was a deeper reason he left them alone- he understood that his friend and Oboe were deeply in love. Like, even though he never admitted it(even to himself), he and Bulma. And he knew how pissed off he himself would get if someone talked negatively about his relationship with her.  
  
As he continued thinking, it surfaced to the top of his mind about his strange version of a friendship with the namekian. He had no clue how or when it had happened, but somehow he and Piccolo had become the best of friends. They both seemed cold and serious, and had both sook revenge for the murders of their fathers. On a lighter note, for the most part, were some of the smallest in the group- one in size and the other in age. And they both had been extremely evil to start, though not totally through their own wills. Vegeta had been under the influence of his instincts, his people, and Frezia. Piccolo was born from pure evil for the soul purpose of vengeance. Yet even these two were not too far gone to be reached...  
  
{{And we're not the only ones.}} Vegeta continued to think to himself, {{Noone here is the same as they before we all met.}}.  
  
Before then, the group before him composed of: Tien, an assassin; Chautzu, an emperor; Yumcha, a girl-fearing thief in the desert with his cat; Krillan, a little bald brat of a monk; Gohan, one hell of a pampered little 'mommy's boy'; Kakkarott, a naive pure of heart idiot who cowered under his wife's every command; Piccolo, the demon connected to Kami and determined with killing Goku; and himself, the 'loyal' servant of Frezia, who longed for the death of the murderer of his people.  
  
Now who did he see?  
  
Tien and Chautzu, the best of friends; Yumcha, well... Vegeta didn't know what to think about him... ; Krillan, often misunderstood, but actually very brave and an amazing fighter for a human; Gohan, twenty years old and as headstrong as ever, though he didn't mind his old childhood mentor watching over him; Piccolo, seemed to have a mutual understanding with Yumcha, good friends with Krillan, very good friends with Gohan, Vegeta's best, and bound to a woman who was his total opposite. He was sullen, she was cheery. He was (usually, not now) shy about his emotions, she let them out. Piccolo actually had many sides now- the stone faced warrior of his younger days, Oboe's totally devoted lover, Gohan's mentor, and Vegeta's pal who would stand behind him no matter what.  
  
And the last person atop the sanctuary in ruins, the sayian prince- no, king, who was no longer heartless. Yes, he put down others, wasn't much of a father or a husband, and seemed like he could care less about any more than two people, but he stood by them all, his friends. Never afraid to fight, an impulsive egomaniac, but close to Bulma- no matter how many times he screamed or cursed at her, deep in that black heart of his, he cared for her.  
  
Vegeta then slapped himself and muttered "Damn, I gotta stop thinking such deep thoughts, I've been raving for the last ten minutes... *mumbles oh so quietly* At this rate, I'll go senile before I'm forty..." The sayian turned around and was about to sigh and say goodbye when he saw it. The beginning of a ki blast. In seconds, it would shoot out and kill Piccolo and Oboe where they stood. They would never see it coming. "Oh shit!!" Vegeta screamed out as he launched himself at the two, hoping he could knock them down before not only they, but now Vegeta himself, were blown through.  
  
The blast flew loose and an explosion filled the air.  
  
---  
Kartak glanced up inquisitively at the spot he had thrown the blast at. When the enemies had attacked him before, he barely slipped away and led them to believe he had been vaporized. Then he had hid, his energy cloaked through a complex system inside him, waiting for the right moment to strike. He had just seen that opportunity, and taken action upon it.  
  
"What the hell just happened?" Kartak heard a confused voice say as the dust cleared. Pity. The enemy had survived. Another frontal attack was needed.  
  
"Now Kartak kill." he said as he left his hiding place and appeared among the warriors.  
  
---  
"What the hell just happened?" was Piccolo's first thought when one second he was talking to Oboe, and the next Vegeta slammed into them headlong, all three slamming to the ground as a huge ki blast whizzed an inch over their heads.  
  
"THAT JUST HAPPENED!!!" screamed out the sayian wildly as he pointed to the blast hole in the far side of the sanctuary. Then he pointed at Kartak as the creature appeared fifty yards off. Tien, Goku, Yumcha, Krillan, Goten, and Trunks all bumrushed Kartak at once, hoping to overwhelm him again. Goku went to ssj. And six huge kameahmeahs flew straight for Kartak. But the creature's reaction was strange- it didn't quite block the blasts, but instead channeled the energy through its pattern of spines... and out, right into Yumcha.  
  
He fell still to the ground.  
  
The already badly injured Krillan screamed, and charged a ki-enzan. The others rushed to get out of the way when Krillan let fly, aiming to behead the monstrosity that had shot his friend. And it DID hit, but sadly, only the blade on Kartak's tail was cleaved from him. But... Kartak screamed madly in rage at this small loss, as if the tables were turned and HE was the one who might have just seen his friend die.  
  
Kartak began screeching wildly, almost as if he were cursing, and rushed down to the ground to pick up the lost blade. Krillan merely stared, confused. Then Kartak struck, rushing forward and smashing the blunt side of the blade flat against Krillan's skull, sending the monk ricocheting into and through several walls before landing silent on the far side of the lookout.  
  
Goten and Trunks then decided to take action. They formed a small ball of energy before them, but instead of attacking with it, they pumped more, and more energy into that small sphere. Goku and Tien also put their forces into it. Then Chautzu, Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta, and even Oboe put their energy into the 'bomb', and the sky turned black from the tremendous force piled into a sphere no bigger than a basketball.  
  
Then the sphere, unable to hold any more, burst free, and surged forward with such a force it knocked each and every one of the warriors backward about six feet.  
  
Vegeta glanced at Piccolo swiftly, nodded, and then the two of them leapt up and sent a hail of renzokou kikou flying forward also, and all the energy hit Kartak at once, whiting out the entire landscape... 


	6. At a loss for words

___Chapter 6___  
  
Seven exhausted people stared, dumbfounded, at aftermath of the pure force of that attack. The ground for five miles was totally scorched and stripped of all life. But... nothing on the lookout or directly below it was any more damaged than when Krillan had been sent flying.  
  
And...  
  
"Where's Piccolo!!! And Vegeta!!!" Oboe screamed upon seeing who was missing. It was Tienshinhan who came upon the grim possibility that seemed most likely.   
  
"Oboe... They were in the air when all those blasts went off, and..."  
  
"They were probably caught in it." Oboe said slowly, finishing Tien's statement for him. Oboe pulled herself erect, blue eyes searching the horizon for something, anything. Nothing but ruin and destruction met her now tear-stained eyes. Oboe walked slowly away from the others. They didn't try to stop her.  
  
She sat down amid the ruins. A soft, silent wind blew by her face, and it stroked softly pass her throat as she lifted her head high, blinking tears away as she stared into the lonely sky. She couldn't feel their auras, even if they WERE alive she wouldn't be able to sense them with all the energy lingering in the air.  
  
She heard only the wind blowing by her, ruffling her clothes softly in a distinct rhythm of cold, clean air. The sun seemed too burn so much more brightly up here. The wind blew past her again, stripping away that soft, comforting feeling from the sun's warmth. She cursed silently, but the wind seemed to think she had spoken aloud, as the next cold burst brought an echo. No, wait... that wasn't her voice. Someone else was cursing softly about twenty yards to her right, and she could only make out one word. But that was enough.  
  
---  
Oboe raced as fast as she could in that direction, and then she saw them. Yumcha and Krillan, lying limply on the ground. Vegeta sitting with his eyes closed and his arms folded behind his head, trying to sleep. And Piccolo standing over the two downed warriors, still saying "Damn sharukus." softly.  
  
Oboe couldn't hold back anymore, and she raced forward, and when she was next to her love, stopped. He saw her. Piccolo stood up quietly, ignoring it when the wind whipped across him, and just looked at Oboe with a gentleness in his eyes that he rarely displayed. She clasped her hands tightly around his, and stared into his eyes, her own letting loose tears. Not a word was said as Piccolo smiled at her, lifted her up in his arms, and hugged her tight.  
  
Vegeta was the first to break the silence, saying softly "Yumcha and Krillan are alive, but barely. I'd say this was one of our better battles, since there was only one loss. We usually average about three dead at the end." Piccolo only nodded, and began walking toward the others. Vegeta just jumped up into the air and flew at the same pace as his friend.  
  
Finally Piccolo spoke, saying "How did you find us? We couldn't find you guys, after we got blasted away. We didn't even know if the rest of you were still alive."  
  
"Everyone's alright. And I heard you."  
  
"How did you know it was us? It could have been anyone."  
  
Oboe smiled, and pressed the side of her face into his chest as she looked up at him and whispered "Only you would know the namekian equivalent of 'bastard', sweetheart."  
  
Piccolo laughed softly at that, but then they saw the others calling them over. The two who were formerly missing recounted what they knew about their downed companions. The others went off to see them, and it was just the three again.  
  
Vegeta laughed out loud for absolutely no reason, and just dropped to the ground, cackling out "Damn, I am spent!" Piccolo glanced toward the crater where the monster had last been seen. Nothing. It was really over.  
  
Then Goku + the others got back. Oboe just sat quietly as they walked over, but all of a sudden she flared up and screamed "It's a trap!!" just in time to get everyone on the alert as a tremendous blast of energy careened toward them.  
  
They escaped their deaths by seconds.  
  
Fear quickly wiped away all exhaustion as Kartak arose from the crater, unscathed.  
  
---  
His skin was pure black, but then it returned to its normal color. "Camouflage." whispered Tienshin as he realized what had happened. Kartak had somehow absorbed, or somehow else contained the bulk of the energy they had blasted, while letting enough loose to make it all look real. It had somehow hid both itself AND all of that energy, waiting till they were all together. Then it had struck, hoping to kill them all at once... but Oboe had warned them.  
  
Tien looked at her shaking quietly in Piccolo's arms, hoping for an answer to this bizarre puzzle. But none came, and his attention was diverted from her when Kartak screeched out a battle cry. Then he hit upon another possible solution. Solar flare.  
  
"Shield your eyes!" was the cry heard when Tien blasted forward, and let loose his signature staller. After using that, he began to charge up for a shin kikoho, but was met by a fist in the face. Tien went flying. And Kartak stood there, laughing as Tienshinhan smashed to the ground and skidded to a stop far away from where he had impacted. Goku blasted up, super sayian once again, but all he met was a fist as well the second he began to move. Kartak flung Goku's body, no longer ssj, to where Tienshin and Krillan and Yumcha had landed.  
  
"Kartak acquiring quite a load of bodies, isn't Kartak? And all in one place too. Kartak good aim." it said evilly as it eyed the neat pile of seemingly lifeless bodies near Yumcha + Krillan.  
  
Now he was only a foot away from each of the fighters, and they all attempted to blast off, to get away from this monster that seemed to be picking them off one by one, but Trunks + Goten weren't fast enough. They also ended up amid the pile of bodies Kartak was amassing.  
  
What kind of bodies they were, living or dead, they didn't know.  
  
Then Kartak closed his eyes, and screamed out loud in a voice so shrill and piercing that only two of the remaining could hear it, and it caused them to scream at the intensity. The tail blade he had lost to Krillan suddenly regenerated, but instead of the scythe from earlier, it was twin bayonets, three feet long apiece.  
  
"Poison tipped." smiled Kartak at those who remained "You want to see?"  
  
Then it laughed, a dark, eerie sound that chilled them to their very souls.  
  
"I'll show you, you monster!" yelled out Chautzu as he hurled the spike that had been stuck in his shoulder at Kartak. Kartak smiled, and swung his new blade into the advancing spike. Chautzu's 'weapon' was then sliced into a million pieces before his very eyes.  
  
"You try next? Much fun! For Kartak!" it yelled out almost gleefully as it spat out a purplish/greenish acid that knocked Chautzu unconscious and paralyzed the little fighter. Kartak flicked Chautzu toward the others. "Kartak finish later." it said, and twisted its face into something that could have been called a smile. "You first." he said, pointing a scaly claw at Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, and Oboe.  
  
Oboe stared, eyes wide, and whispered fearfully, "What if it isn't just a dream..." She looked up at Piccolo, hoping for the gentle reassurance he usually gave.  
  
Piccolo didn't speak. Even he didn't know anymore... 


	7. Hearts and stars

___Chapter 7___  
  
The girls were ready to go up when they heard someone scream. Bulma immediately leapt up and yelled "Vegeta!" as a large energy blast illuminated the sky.  
  
"Oh no! The fighting's started again!" cried Videl "And that thing is stronger than ever! I can feel it!"  
  
All eyes turned to Kami as he tried to reopen opened the link between them and the battle, but unsuccessfully. He didn't have enough power left. Chi-chi, who had only recovered two minutes ago, had fainted the second fighting was suggested, and Puar and Ranchi stood firm this time.  
  
But before Kami could say a word, Yen remembered who was now thrown into a battle she could not hope to survive, and screamed out "OBOE!!!!!"  
  
---  
Back on top, the remaining three were through with this staring match, and decided to take some REAL action.  
  
"No plan this time, just do everything in your power to kill this thing." said Gohan grimly. He nodded to Vegeta, and the two of them ran to tackle Kartak headlong. Piccolo was about to go also, but he turned to Oboe, and a grim smile crossed her face.  
  
"Prove me wrong, love." she said gently.  
  
He smiled sadly, kissed her cheek, and said "Of course." as he stroked his hand down her face, and she reached her hand to touch his. The show of affection lasted only a few seconds though, and Piccolo broke away and rocketed to the fight. Oboe slumped to her knees, too afraid for tears, and her eyes followed him there.  
  
---  
All three were just blasting randomly, but being careful not to hit or get hit by one another. And, as they could tell from the look in Piccolo's eyes, to keep away from Oboe so she couldn't be hurt inadvertently. Kartak merely mocked them as he dodged everything they threw.  
  
"You know Kartak! You're really getting on my nerves!" screamed Gohan after about fifteen minutes of this humiliation, and he jumped off to the side and began to power up, his palms facing forward with thumbs linked and index fingers touching at the tips.  
  
"Is this the attack you were talking about the last time we met? Back then, you said it almost killed you when you tried to use it. I assume it's been perfected." Piccolo asked as he carefully dodged past a blast Vegeta had thrown.  
  
Gohan smiled evilly, nodded, and yelled "Zarkan, FIRE!!!" as ten beams of greenish/black energy flew from each of Gohan's outstretched fingers and spun rapidly toward their target. Kartak wasn't expecting something new, and got smashed by half the energy before he got the chance to throw up a shield. This only made him madder than ever.  
  
"Enemy annoy Kartak! Kartak MAIM!" he screeched out as he powered up in the blink of an eye, curled into a ball with spikes sticking out at all angles, and hurled himself at Gohan. Then he smashed into the other two. Kartak uncurled and shot three beams of energy, furthering the extent of their injuries.  
  
"Kartak finish now." he said to himself with a smirk, but by chance, he noticed one shape sitting in the distance, unharmed.  
  
Oboe, frozen in terror and despair, would make an easy target.  
  
---  
Dendea had since recovered and started talking again by the time the fighting started with only three warriors.  
  
"Lute, I have to help them! I can fly, but I'm going to need as much energy as possible for healing. Do you think you can fly me up?" Dendea asked as he heard of the desperate situation above.  
  
Lute nodded and said "Yes. I'll try." He grabbed Dendea's hand and flew as fast as possible upward. After some time, they finally got up, and Dendea gasped when he saw 'the battlefield'.  
  
"What in the name of... The lookout!! It's in shambles!! Aah!! Noone's left!! I have to help them!!" he yelled in a whisper as he ran toward the injured fighters. Lute had his own business to attend to. He charged up as he watched another fight begin...  
  
---  
Kartak smiled to himself. This would be his first real kill. Yes, he had knocked the small one off the cliff, but the fall had killed that one, not Kartak's blast. This one, and then the others, would be the first to die by his hands.  
  
But then, Kartak heard something behind him. He was somewhat surprise when he say Dendea running toward Goku and the others, but didn't think too much about it. He just shot out more of that acid he trapped Chautzu in and Dendea fell unconscious.  
  
Oboe then unfroze. She had to fight. Even though she knew she stood no chance, after the strongest had fallen, she had to fight. Maybe the others could get away...  
  
She stood up and looked Kartak in the eye. He laughed at her, hissing "You think you can fight Kartak? Fool!"  
  
Oboe narrowed her eyes, and they shone a furious shade of blue as she folded her arms in front of her, and said "If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll GET!!!" The cry ended in Oboe snapping her arms forward, and screaming out "ARCHEN!!" as she faced her palms toward Kartak. Instantly, dozens of white ki blasts began rocketing out like machine guns, and rubble flew everywhere, blotting out the nearby landscape. After about five hundred or so, Oboe stopped, chest heaving from exhaustion, and watched the dust clear. Before she could blink, a hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck.  
  
---  
Kartak emerged, no worse for wear, and stood up, leaving Oboe hanging two feet above the ground. She fought and kicked wildly for what she could, but she was already spent.  
  
Kartak shot a ki blast through the hand that held her.  
  
Actually... it wasn't a blast... it was poison. But this wasn't like the acid Chautzu and Dendea were held in. This was more like normal snake poison. It caused death. Not paralysis.  
  
For almost a minute, he pumped it into her bloodstream, and her fighting lessened as more was injected into her. Then Kartak dropped Oboe on the ground and just looked at her as her body went into convulsions, shaking violently. Kartak laughed again, and Oboe shook slightly into real consciousness, enough to raise her hand to her throat. Healing energy began to slowly pulsate into her, but it would not be enough to heal her before Kartak finished her off.  
  
Kartak looked at the other fighters, making sure they were down, but before he could turn his attention back to Oboe, a rather large and totally unexpected blast of energy threw him a few feet. For a second, Kartak thought he was seeing double. With his reptilian eyes, this one who attacked him looked just like the one he had just shot with his acid. Then in an angry voice, this small attacker yelled out, "Leave her alone! If you want to mess with someone, mess with me!" 


	8. In the name of love

___Chapter 8___  
  
Vegeta, Piccolo, and Gohan had all landed in about the same spot.  
  
"Can I say ow? That hurts!!" cried Gohan as he regained consciousness. He couldn't move anything except his head, so he looked around for what he could. Vegeta was in worse condition- broken except for the eyes. Piccolo, however, was not conscious at all, but a further check of power showed he was alive.   
  
"Hey kid, can you see what's happening? I can't tell at this angle." Vegeta said rudely as he glanced at Gohan.  
  
Gohan gave a weird smile and said "Yeah. It seems Dendea was alive. I just saw him. But the weird thing is, I think he's fighting. But the voice is different. And he's got a different outfit. And unless he's been training nonstop for the last few years, or was holding alot of power from us, he could never fight like this."  
  
Then Gohan glanced over at the person he was talking to, and practically screamed "Vegeta!!! What are you doing?!?!" upon seeing the sayian prop himself up on his shattered elbows and crawl to a spot half a foot away where he could see.  
  
Vegeta, plainly in severe pain from that last stunt, took a look at the fighting and said "That's not Dendea, unless he got a couple years younger. That kid's about nine or so it looks. Dendea's almost sixteen, and even though he looks younger, he doesn't look THAT young. Who the hell is that kid? Don't we have enough of these green idiots on the planet without more coming?"  
  
He glanced around irritably, but then he saw Piccolo, and a concerned look washed over his face.  
  
"Is he..."  
  
Gohan looked over and replied "No. He's alive, just got a worse beating than we did. And whoever that little guy is, he sure can fight pretty good. You're right- that's not Dendea. I can see Dendea over there on the ground. He must have gotten hurt. So noone's died yet... But we might as well be at this rate. Just hope that kid knows what he's doing. The weird thing is, he almost reminds me of someone. I'm not sure, but he really does."  
  
"Yeah. I see your point." Vegeta took another look after saying that, and thought {{The kid's fighting style is familiar too. And that aura... wait a sec. No way!!!}} He jerked his head violently to the left where Piccolo lay. {{I must be seeing things. It's the battle, that's it, it's wearing on my mind. Yeah, I'm exhausted and injured, so I'm going delusional.}}  
  
He looked at the kid. He looked to his left. Back at the kid. Back to his left. Kid. Left. Kid. Left. Gohan, because he started talking and asked in a slightly scared voice "Are you alright, Vegeta...?"  
  
The sayian then snapped out of it and said "Of course I'm fine! All my limbs are broken and I can only move my eyes. Perfectly fine!"  
  
Gohan then rolled his eyes and said "You're fine if you can still complain." Then he watched the battle.   
  
{{I can't believe I could think something so outrageous. It's utterly impossible.}} thought Vegeta to himself again. But looking at that kid's aura and fighting style, and comparing it to... It made him think.  
  
---  
Lute was doing pretty well. He still had the element of surprise because Kartak had no clue who he was. Kartak was still wondering how the small green one he had just shot seemed to be fighting after being paralyzed. But then he saw the real Dendea on the ground, realized this was a different enemy, and then the fight turned ugly.  
  
A quick jab to the side with the blunt part of a foot claw sent Lute flying to the ground about two yards or so away. Kartak just sat and laughed as Oboe, who had healed sufficiently, rushed over to pick up the young boy.  
  
"Are you alright?" she asked with concern.  
  
"Yeah anocha." mumbled Lute as he staggered up.  
  
Piccolo's eyes snapped open as Kartak took a fighting stance before Oboe and the boy.  
  
Gohan had a look of shocked awe on his face as he saw Piccolo rise to his feet. He was in far worse shape than everyone else. He had started fighting first and was one of the last to stop. And there he was, standing up. At that point, only he, Gohan, Vegeta, Oboe, Kartak, and the little boy Lute were conscious. Only they would see what happened next.  
  
As Piccolo staggered up, a thousand thoughts passed through his mind in less than a blink of an eye. The most prominent memories were those were those of Oboe. But one in particular lingered as he started to run.  
  
The first time Oboe died.  
  
It was not an enemy that killed her. It was his own fault. Some trivial matter that he could not even remember anymore had so maddened he and Vegeta that they had temporally lost their minds and attacked everyone at once with massive ki attacks the world had never seen before and would hopefully never see again. The smallest of them had had a diameter of two miles. The result was that everyone was killed. The fighters, the girls, even the guys from the Turtle house and Corin's tower. Kami hadn't died, but he wouldn't be getting up or even entering consciousness for weeks. Only Piccolo and Vegeta truly survived. Of course, they were all wished back, but the guilt hung in his head.  
  
Kartak unleashed his tail, aiming to impale the two in front of him on its razored tip.  
  
Piccolo only said one thing as he ran forward. "Never again. She's not dying again!"  
  
Almost in slow motion he saw the blade edge closer to her and the child. He ran faster, though it was a miracle he could move at all. With one final burst of speed, he reached them, and Kartak's tail hit.  
  
The world went black and cold as he felt something pierce his chest.  
  
Vegeta screamed out "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" in anguish as the poisoned blade tore through his best friend, ripping out his life as it ripped through his heart. Gohan cried out in kind. Vegeta tried to rise, but could not. As before, Gohan did the same.  
  
The world was then stopped by one word.  
  
When Lute cried out, "Father!" 


	9. Family

___Chapter 9___  
  
As Piccolo's body collapsed to the ground, Oboe dropped to her knees to catch it as it fell.  
  
Kartak was ecstatic. He had truly made his first kill. He sat there, staring at the hysterical woman sobbing over the body. Then she stood up, crying, laughing, and screaming all at once. She had bloodshot eyes, hatred beamed from their light blue irises. Kartak was shocked when she sliced at him with her claws and a deep gash appeared on his face.  
  
She kept attacking.  
  
Kartak was confused and startled. He had not expected a counterattack. And she did not care about the pain she was causing herself, her hands were being torn to ribbons.  
  
Kartak merely stumbled back as Oboe cried and raged and laughed, weakening him with each blow. Kartak only had one fault: he almost never thought, but when he did, his mind went over it again, and again, and again.  
  
Because of this one flaw, he only stared as Oboe attacked. Even as he lay dying, Oboe still clawed him, and he only could wonder "why".  
  
---  
Even after Kartak was dead, Oboe still wept and sliced at it's remains, until Lute came over and asked her to stop. Then she crawled over to Piccolo's body and began to weep anew.  
  
"Mom, you're hurt." Lute whispered as he saw her torn and bloodied limbs. Then, he put his hands on her arm and...  
  
"That kid's a healer?" wondered Gohan aloud. Vegeta wasn't listening.  
  
He was crying.  
  
His best friend was dead. He had never told him. He had, for the last twelve years, always planned, always thought about how and when to tell Piccolo he was his best friend. But he had always held back, and now it was too late. Piccolo was dead. And Vegeta could not stop crying. He did not want to stop either. He had to let it out.  
  
He didn't care what anyone else said. The hell with his image, his heritage, his ego, his pride... all these ideals seemed to die with Piccolo. And it was OK to cry. Vegeta looked up when someone stood over him, but he started sobbing again when he saw Lute. When he felt Lute's aura. The boy's aura felt disturbingly like his father's.  
  
Father.  
  
Vegeta still couldn't believe that this boy was Piccolo's son. But there Lute was, healing him.  
  
Gohan was next to be healed. {{Our bodies may be whole, but not our spirits.}} thought Gohan as he looked at Vegeta, crying silently now. Gohan was not rather loud outside, but inside he was shedding rivers.  
  
Oboe hadn't moved farther than a foot away from Piccolo since she had healed. She sat, holding his body and stroking his still face gently.  
  
Lute then sat down and cried. He wished he hadn't been so mean to his anoco, his father, the last time they spoke together...  
  
When the three shapes were in he sky, only hours ago (though it seemed like years) his father had told him to go down to the ground so he'd be safe. But Lute insisted upon helping fight. The two argued to the point where Piccolo lost his temper and had to scream and curse at the boy to get him to listen.   
  
The last thing Lute said to his father was "I hate you!".  
  
Now he wished he could take it back, say he was sorry, anything to make those last words go away. But there was no way to do that now.  
  
Lute wiped away some of the tears, turned to his mother, and said "Anocha, I only have enough energy to heal one more person."  
  
Oboe looked at him, and answered almost in a whisper "Heal Dendea. He can take over for you." Then she began to cry again as she held her beloved's body closer. She could not really let him go. To loosen her hold and let his body fall to the ground, cold and lifeless, was to truly accept he was dead.  
  
Piccolo had given up his own life so she and Lute could live. He had somehow, deep inside, felt the danger and ran on a broken body to be impaled on a poisoned blade...  
  
All for his family.  
  
{{Family. They are a family.}} thought Vegeta. A sad smile crossed his face as he thought of that night when he first saw Piccolo and Oboe together. Of course, Vegeta had also ruined the night for those two by unexpectedly popping in and scaring the living hell out of Oboe, which made Piccolo want to kill Vegeta for some time, but the sayian still cherished that memory. And when Piccolo had told Vegeta Oboe had accepted his proposal... he couldn't help but laugh when he remembered that. He had been soo glad for his friend.  
  
In that year before he met Oboe, Piccolo had been progressively more and more melancholy. He could only focus on the fact that Gohan was spending more and more time with Videl, and less with him. He really hadn't formed much of an attachment to anyone back then- yeah, he was loose friends with Vegeta and Krillan and Yumcha... but Gohan was his only real friend that Piccolo would actually AKGNOLEDGE to himself in words as a friend. Vegeta truly believed that the only thing that had kept him hanging on that long had been the knowledge that if he died, Kami died as well, and that meant the dragonballs would disappear.  
  
But one night that all changed...  
  
---  
Vegeta was just flying around bored that fateful night, when he saw Piccolo and someone else. As he got closer, the other shape dashed away. But when Vegeta went up to Piccolo to try and ask who had been there, Piccolo didn't answer. He just sat there, staring at the cliff where the shape had disappeared. The sayian repeated his question, and finally ran up and slapped Piccolo upside the head in hope of getting a reaction. But instead of jerking or retaliating, Piccolo just turned his face to Vegeta and said "Wha..." in a rather calm, dreamy voice with a rather calm, dreamy look to his face and an even stranger silly little smile on his lips.  
  
That night Vegeta had known something was amiss. But this he never expected.  
  
{{Too bad I never got to see them all together. This must have been what he was talking about when he said we would be surprised. I hate to say it, but it looks like Piccolo was RIGHT for once.}} Vegeta laughed silently at himself.   
  
And then another memory crossed his mind. For a fraction of a second, he HAD seen them together. Right before he died...  
  
"Ok, You're getting sappy Vegeta. Stop the deep thinking." he mumbled aloud. Vegeta turned around when he felt someone come up from ground level. Then Yen landed. The only people she could see were Gohan and Vegeta, she was at the wrong angle to see Oboe.  
  
Yen looked at the two, a blend of confusion and fear in her eyes as she said "What happened up here. Kami's gone. I wish I could have come up sooner. But a short while ago, he collapsed to his knees and.. and died. He just disappeared. And he said something right before that that interested me. Where's Oboe?"  
  
Gohan only displayed a sad, grim face and Vegeta pointed behind Yen, indicating for her to turn around. When she did, her eyes widened in shock and she rushed to her friend's side.  
  
"Oh god Oboe!! What... happened?" she said loudly, then quietly as Oboe turned her head around to look at Yen, who was crouched next to her.  
  
Oboe leant her head on her lifelong companion's shoulder, but she did not cry this time. She knew she had to be strong now. And she answered in not a weeping voice, but only a sorrowful one, "He saved me. And Lute."  
  
"Lute?"  
  
Lute heard his name, and walked over and asked if he had been called. Yen smiled, and said quietly "You must be what Kami was talking about."  
  
Oboe looked back at her, confused. "What about Kami-sama?"  
  
"Well, in the last few seconds, he smiled and said something."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"He said, 'I'm a grandfather.'" 


	10. Room (to live, to breathe, to think)

___Chapter 10___  
  
After Dendea had been healed, he immediately glanced around franticly, and upon seeing nothing, looked up and saw Lute standing above him.  
  
Dendea propped himself into a sitting position, and said "What happened?!? One second, I'm running, the next I'm unconscious, and now I'm here and the battle looks like it's over! Who won?"  
  
Lute shook slightly, and said in a soft tone of voice "Everyone's fine..." Dendea smiled, but then he saw Lute hold up his hand to silence him, and finished "Except... my dad. He died."  
  
Lute's eyes welled up with tears, but then he saw the upset look on Dendea's face, which only made it worse. He couldn't take speaking anymore, and before Dendea could get out a single consoling word, Lute had blasted off to a distant part of the lookout.  
  
Dendea didn't know what to say. So he decided not to follow his new friend. He just healed the others and gave them the bad news.  
  
---  
Everyone's reaction to learning the happenings of the fight was different. When Yumcha heard that Piccolo was dead, he looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Krillan was the same way. Piccolo had few close friends, but the ones he had were loyal, as he was to them.  
  
Then the rest of those who were at ground level came up, and all the girls except Bulma went to their husbands. Bulma, knowing someone who needed and would appreciate her concern much more, went to Oboe. She knew what it felt like to loose the guy you loved, not to mention that the two ladies were best friends.  
  
"Hey, it's getting dark out. we should go somewhere inside." Videl said quietly an hour or so later when night began to fall. Almost instantly, Puar, Ranchi, Chi-chi, Videl, #18, Bulma, and Yen all opened their mouths to say that everyone could go to their houses when Oboe silenced them.  
  
"You just get your boys and follow my direction." The girls approved, and all piled into a capsule car, and Oboe was about to go too when she remembered something. She asked the girls to wait for her, and ran back about thirty feet.  
  
His body. It was still there. And Oboe couldn't bear the thought of leaving it behind. Oboe felt two auras behind her, and she whirled around to see...  
  
"You go on ahead. We'll carry him." Gohan said forlornly. Vegeta stood behind him, silent. Oboe smiled softly, and nodded. Then she ran off back to the car.  
  
As everyone took off, a voice from behind then chorused "Just don't let Chi-chi drive!!" Goku soon regretted his wisecrack, as a rolling pin, via his wife, connected soundly with his head. He apologized, and went back to his friends, flying behind the speeding aircar.  
  
---  
A good 150 miles later, Oboe told them to leave the car behind and get a ride up. The aircar was good for paved roads, "But it can't go through the terrain we're crossing." said Oboe as Bulma returned the car to it's capsule.  
  
Then she flew to the back of the group, and Gohan and Vegeta. "Thank you." she said softly, "You know how much this means to me. I'll take him now. You need to fly your wives up."  
  
Vegeta smiled, and said "I don't think that we did it just for you." as they gently handed him to her. Oboe clutched the body close, a single tear running from her deep blue eyes. Then everyone flew, or was flown, as Oboe led them. To wherever. They had no clue. They merely trusted her.  
  
"Hey! Goku! Isn't that your place?" shouted Krillan aloud above the wind as they saw a small house, nestled near a forested cliff in the canyons.  
  
"No, don't you remember? My house is miles from here!"  
  
Oboe laughed, the first time in a long time, and said "That's not Goku's house you silly dolt! That's my house!"  
  
Krillan then answered back "Your house? I didn't know you had one!"  
  
"I have since Piccolo spent a year building it!"  
  
"A YEAR! Must be a pretty nice house if he spent a YEAR on it!"  
  
"It is really nice. And he made everything we needed for it!"  
  
"That must have been hard!"  
  
"It was. You should have seen him! But it's been built well. We've lived in it for the last six years, Lute for all his life."  
  
With that final answer to Krillan, Oboe landed in front of the house, asked everyone to wait outside for a while, and went inside.  
  
---  
As Oboe walked through her home, it brought back memories. Happy memories. But they were not happy now, as she carried the limp form of her love in her arms. Upon reaching their room, she lay him down on the bed and sat down, eyes closed in a sigh.  
  
The first thing upon opening her eyes that she saw was a small red rose, pressed in a frame.  
  
That brought tears to her eyes. Tears of joy and sorrow.  
  
Then she knew she had to leave the room and let the others in. But she couldn't go. Not yet.  
  
"We will bring you back, Piccolo. That I swear." Oboe said aloud. She kissed him one last time, and went out to bring the others in.  
  
---  
"Wow, this place is HUGE! Looked kinda plain from the outside, is on the inside too, but it's nice." Krillan said, craning his neck to look at the ceiling, and then proceeding to fall on his backside.  
  
Tien laughed, and said "Of course it's big to you! They're a lot bigger than you are."  
  
Krillan nodded, rubbing his sore backside.  
  
Upon seeing an opening he couldn't resist, Goten smiled and said "If you were living alone, your house would probably only be four feet tall!" He, Trunks, and Dendea almost fell over laughing. Lute smiled, and started laughing. Oboe smiled. It looked like her boy was making friends...  
  
Krillan stood up, and shot a sour look at Goten. That only made the four laugh harder. Then Goku started laughing. By the time Krillan got them to shut up, everyone had been laughing, or at least smiling at one point.  
  
Gohan turned to Oboe, still smiling from earlier, and said "You said he made everything here by himself?"  
  
"Yes. Actually, I convinced him to let me help with some things, but this is really his work." Oboe looked at everyone, and said "If anyone wants to, they can stay here for the night."  
  
After some agreeing and arguing, the ladies won their husbands over, and got to stay. Goku, Gohan, Tien, Yumcha, Chautzu, and Krillan went outside to practice. Chi-chi, Bulma, Puar, Ranchi, Yen, Videl, and #18 went outside to watch the fights and talk.  
  
Vegeta continued to just sit in a chair while everyone except Oboe filed out to go elsewhere. He only got up when they were alone. Then he walked up to her and asked in a very quiet voice "Where is he? Piccolo I mean."  
  
Oboe nodded and lead him to the room she had shared with her husband for the last six years. Upon opening the door, Vegeta turned to Oboe and was about to speak when she answered "I'll leave you alone now, if you wish."  
  
He replied with a smile, and Oboe left the room. 


	11. The magic's in the music/memories

___Chapter 11___  
  
~~NOTE- Re-vamped 4/2/02, while listening to "Bloody Mary", Five For Fighting. ~~  
  
Vegeta glanced around at the small furnishings the namekian couple had allowed themselves, unimpressed. A window with a view. A rose in a frame. A small closet. A chest for keeping clothes (probably all Oboe's) in. The bed. A little table in the corner.  
  
The sayian rolled his eyes, speaking to himself through his teeth "Damnit Pic, can't you ever do anything for yourself? I doubt you care about anything in here, it's all for her...."  
  
Walking over to the little table, he stared down at the only interesting thing he'd found so far, photographs. The Z senshi, a young Lute grinning, Yen and Oboe and Bulma trying to ride bicycles, Gohan flashing a peace sign while dressed in his 'piccolo' outfit- those didn't hold his attention long.  
  
The two pictures he actually looked at, picking up the frames and running them over in his hands, were the other two. The first was a family portrait, Oboe holding an infant-like Lute in her arms and leaning her head against Piccolo, who didn't have that slight nervous look Vegeta had always aquatinted with whenever she got too close to him in public. The namekian had one arm around her shoulders, the other disappearing out the side of the image, making it obvious he'd been the one taking the picture.  
  
The image brought a faint smile to his quiet face, and he thought to himself {{Heh. so that's what the three look like together...}} before setting it down and picking up the last, a sadness sweeping over the corners of his eyes.  
  
The last photograph was Piccolo and himself. They were laughing, either with or at each other, torn and beaten up after one of their spars, but none the worse for their wear.  
  
"Korin and his stupid cameras." he smirked quietly, glancing back over the images again.  
  
A few years ago, because there wasn't much else to do but grow senzu and Yagirobe wasn't the first person you'd go to for intelligent conversation, the little white cat who lived under the Tenkai had taken up a hobby. He'd gotten himself a myriad of cameras and set them all about his tower, programming them to search out those of the highest powers- the senshi- and follow them around. Somehow, through some trick he'd put on them, they never seemed to run out of film, and could capture images from almost any corner of the earth (he still hasn't figured out how to make them see through walls). Quickly, sorting through everything he'd got became one of the few joys in his otherwise mundane life.  
  
Most of the photographs owned by the gang were from his archives. It was actually a good idea, but not always. Several idle and not-so-idle threats had been put to the neko (cat), Pic and Veg sending most of the latter, whenever an embarrassingly stupid or private romantic moment found it's was into his collection bins.  
  
Vegeta smiled again, and was just about to seat himself down on the corner and talk (He didn't give a shit how stupid he might look, that was his friend, dead or not, and it's not like anyone else would be listening in) to Piccolo when the glint of finely polished wood in a corner he hadn't looked to yet pulled his eyes.  
  
His breath caught in his throat immediately, and he had to bite his lip to stop himself from screaming, digging his fingers into the cloth and blinking twice to clear that annoying fogginess from his eyes....  
  
It was a guitar.  
  
He tried to look away, but he couldn't tear his eyes from the embossed writing on the side that read a name he knew all-too-well, or stop the memories from flooding over his mind......  
  
---  
  
It had been two years before the long split, he knew it exactly to the date (November 27), when he and all the other fighters had been beckoned to the lookout for no stated reason. All they knew was that the women and the three children were already there and waiting. They hadn't had much of an idea, but the last thing they'd ever expected was just what they got- when Trunks, Dende, and Goten all announced that everyone present was thereby entered into... a contest. A MUSICAL, contest.  
  
As you could guess, there was a good bit of protest and indignance, but most everyone (save two- you guessed it! Pic and Veg) was won over quickly by the dinner that'd been prepared for afterwards.  
  
Then remained the supreme hard-asses themselves, the one-time princes. Bulma hadn't cared for subtlety after he laughed at her and mocked her blatantly, so she just grabbed the nearest blunt object she could get her hands on (Kakkarott's head) and swung it at him, sending him flat on his backside. So he accepted his fate. Oboe hadn't bothered with arguing, she just strolled up to him, pointed accusingly, and flat out said "There's no way in hell you're getting out of this- I won't let you. You're too much of a grouch, and you're going to have fun today if it kills you."  
  
The sayian laughed at that particular memory- she always pretended to push him around. But the thing was that he usually listened to her, no matter how stupid or crazy it was. It was actually rather amusing.  
  
But not much was more amusing then what had ensued- Kakkarott had stumbled all over himself before leaping off stage straight into the seats trying to get at the buffet, Gohan had done slightly better but forgot the words to his song halfway through and resorted to ad-libbing the rest, Yumcha revealed he'd actually been playing for years now and pulled out a half-decent number with Chautzu mentally controlling drums and Tien and Krillan pretending they knew which end of the guitar was up, Videl and Juuhachigou had parried their opposite voice tones together in a rather interesting mix, Trunks and Goten had basically run amuck with Dende chasing after them trying to keep them out of too much trouble, Ranchi, Yen, and Puar had sung together to the best of their abilities and done decently(even though most of their focus was to keep Ranchi from sneezing), Bulma and Oboe had sung quite beautifully together, and Chi-chi hadn't even started before she saw Trunks daring her youngest to leap off the Tenkai and ran off-stage.  
  
More personally Vegeta remembered the last act....   
  
There had been the four of them left in the audience when it was Piccolo's turn up, everyone but two who'd finished having left to the buffet. The namek had tried to sneak his way out of there, but Oboe had stopped him. Knowing he was defeated, he'd hung his head and was about to admit it and get up there when a cackle rang out behind him, mocking "Comeon, baka! You scared or something?"  
  
Piccolo stopped in mid stride and glared at the laughing Vegeta, about to shout something obscene at him when something better crossed his mind, bringing quite the evil smirk across his lips. And before the sayian could say another word he'd found himself being dragged onstage- the namek wasn't going to be humiliated alone this time. Vegeta wasn't laughing anymore.  
  
A minute later, the music had started. "We walk in the dream". Pic smiled very faintly- at least it was something that didn't grate on his ears. But good, bad, or indifferent, they were too pissed off by the whole situation to do anything but stand there and scowl.  
  
Then something strange happened.  
  
How or why or when they didn't know, but something... came over them Something happened. And from nowhere, halfway through, Vegeta suddenly found a guitar in his hands, found his fingers flitting across the strings like he's been born with the thing, totally enveloped by the music, so that everything else in the world was gone for those few sweet moments like a flock of crows frightened into flight. Only when the song ended did he snap out of it, blinking slightly, as if the light was too much all of a sudden. Glancing over, he saw Piccolo was in a similar state of confusion, also holding an instrument that neither of them had ever seen before. They just stared at each other for a moment, a very long moment, their dark eyes mirroring each other in a strange sort of understanding.  
  
But after what seemed like ages, though it was merely a few seconds, they both rang out with laughter and walked offstage, out of the lights and back into the shadow.  
  
When asked what the name of their entry was, they just stared dumbly, before Piccolo snapped, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he replied "How about 'the nameless ones', since that's what we are anyway."  
  
He facefaulted when that was taken seriously.  
  
But no matter how much they'd bitched and complained about it at the beginning, as time passed, the memory was only recalled with a fondness, for even through all the embarrassment they'd actually been enjoying themselves.  
  
Which was only proven further a few weeks later- when Son (who had been so ecstatically happy afterwards he'd gathered up his money from the past budokais, bought a lot downtown, and built his own bar) needed some sort of act the first few days, the two actually VOLUNTEERED. The performances went off without much of a problem, even though they almost always ended in bickering and throwing things at each other, Vegeta's guitar usually among them. That last action soon became a given of the little sayia-jin. Sometimes he threw it, sometimes he blew it up, sometimes he smashed it, sometimes he'd even light it on fire, but the wood always went flying, and more often than not, it ended up hitting Piccolo.  
  
Once when Vegeta smashed it early into the set and found himself without one at the end, he stole the guitar from Piccolo and threw that. Pic nearly took his head off, and from thus on (and after much frustration trying to find something else he could play passably), he took up the drums. That's when they were at their peak...  
  
---  
  
Vegeta, his mind back in the present, lifted the instrument gently off the wall, smiling out the side of his mouth when he glanced a cloth bag on the peg behind it, the ends of two drumsticks poking out. Vegeta sighed quietly, but the smile only faded, it wasn't gone- he knew that if he'd tried this while Pic was still around, he would have deftly been tackled to the ground and demanded of to either drop the thing or die. Almost unconsciously, as his fingers stroked the strings, a song came to his mind, their favorite that they'd play constantly.  
  
He began to play.  
  
And all his sorrows seemed to be washed away as the notes ran together more and more fluidly as his out-of-practice hands got back into their rhythm. The world disappeared, and it was just the music and him, that was all there was, all that mattered, all that existed at that moment.  
  
---  
  
Oboe had just been slumped down in the darkened living room, trying to re-arrange her befuddled mind when a faint sound piped in her ears, and was joined by others, forming a melody that was almost.... familiar.......Her eyes went wide.  
  
{{Pillar of Da- who's playing that song? And at this time of all hours....}} She stood a bit shakily from the chair she'd been in, and almost facefaulted when she realized the particular pitch of the instrument. It was Piccolo's.......  
  
"Oh gods..... This is just too much, noone else would ever touch that thing, unless....... No, I'm fooling myself, he's dead, but......." the namekisan-jin woman whispered to herself as she treaded upstairs, stopping before the door at the far left end of the hall, hand pausing around the knob. Gathering her courage, she turned it, glancing inside  
  
And smiled. 


	12. Small hands

___Chapter 12___  
  
Vegeta had been absorbed by the song. Everything was as perfect as it had ever been at that moment. Piccolo was not dead, he was behind him, playing the drums and nearly smiling his face off. The audience was great, noone cared that the two didn't, and refused to sing. The crowd here were the general ones who hung around the bar, and they weren't here for the music in particular. They came for good, cheap drinks. That's what Goku sold, so this is where they came. But... according to Goku, some of the patrons only were there when Piccolo + Vegeta were playing.  
  
The sayian loved this feeling for some strange reason he couldn't define- this feeling of power he got when he played his wordless music, knowing that his best friend in the world was right behind him, and that the two of them were being seen for who and how they really were, not as some freaks. They had gotten to know this crowd, and were actually friends with a couple of them. The atmosphere this night seemed exactly the same as any other. The only difference now was that Vegeta had no urge to smash the instrument he was holding. There was something special he sensed in it that stopped him.  
  
He did not notice Oboe walk in or sit down. Only when the song ended did he snap into reality.  
  
His face was of confusion for a second, but then he remembered where and when he was. He was sitting on a bed in Oboe's house with Piccolo's guitar in his hands. Oboe was sitting down, smiling sadly at him. Piccolo was dead, his body lying behind him. There was no bar, no crowd of familiar faces cheering him on... the only real part of that whole song had been the music, and his best friend's guitar in his small hands.  
  
{{All an illusion...}} Vegeta thought quietly as he lay the instrument on his lap. Vegeta sighed softly, and traced his fingers across the embossed writing on it's edges.  
  
"Ok, that was weird." said the sayian, still not looking up.   
  
"You know Vegeta, " said Oboe with the slightest tint of sadness in her eyes, "for a second there, I thought you were him."  
  
Vegeta stood up, placed the guitar back on the wall, and said "Noone could ever be like him." Then he looked at her, and said "And there's something I've been meaning to ask you. About Lute."  
  
Oboe looked up, and said "You mean his origin?"  
  
Vegeta nodded weakly.  
  
"Well, he's one strange kid. He wasn't born like any of us were. He just... became. It's hard to describe. The last time the whole gang was together seven years ago, that night... as we, Piccolo and I, flew off to the mountains, he just laughed out loud for no reason. I asked him what was wrong, and he just smiled and said 'We've been married for what, two years? And you don't even have a house yet? Well, I'm gonna fix that!' And that very night, he started building it. Sometimes he would work all day and all night, but sometimes he would just collapse on the spot and fall asleep."  
  
"Why didn't Piccolo just ask for help!? I would have helped! Why is he so stubborn?" Vegeta exclaimed angrily.  
  
Oboe continued the story, saying "He didn't want to tell anyone until he finished. He wanted to make it by himself. I could scarcely get Piccolo to accept MY help for some things. Anyway, it took him a year to make this house."  
  
The sun was beginning to set, and the two could see it out the window- the perfect view, only interrupted by a large flat-topped stone and some mountains far in the distance.  
  
"See that slab of rock over there? When he was finally finished, it was just around this time, the sun falling into the mountains. We were sitting together out there, watching the sunset. Everything was perfect. The world was beautifully at peace, the house was done, it was warm and... *sighs* Utterly perfect. And we were together. That was possibly the closest we had ever been. I had been watching the sun fall into the mountains, but then I looked over, and Piccolo's face looked really strange. I looked down, and saw there was energy or something coming from our joined hands and going to the spot between us. Then there was a flash of light, and the next thing I saw was Lute, sitting between us with the silliest little look on his tiny face. We would have told you all about him earlier, but, we got preoccupied with everything, and only when Goku sent out that message to come to the tower for a reunion did we really remember you didn't know yet."  
  
Vegeta picked up the picture of Lute. "Oh.. I had no clue what to expect when I asked you that. Actually, I expected to get slapped across the face and thrown into the wall. Something as weird as that I didn't expect."  
  
Oboe smiled, slightly laughed, and shook her head  
  
"No Vegeta, nothing like THAT happened."  
  
Vegeta looked away so she couldn't see the embarrassed look oh his face. She laughed, and said "You know, it's getting late. You should go down and call everyone in. You guys can stay in the living room, I guess. But Trunks, Dendea, and Goten are going to stay with Lute. Seems they became friends. And I asked Gohan to watch over them, make sure they don't get too loud. We all need our rest. It's off to Nameksei tomorrow." Oboe sighed, closed her eyes, and slid her hand over to touch Piccolo's.  
  
Vegeta nodded and was about to leave when he said "I've also been wondering- why is his body still here?"  
  
Oboe looked up again, and replied "Because I don't want it to go. When he comes back, I want him to be home, not in some barren lonely place. He's going to be gone long enough. I want to see him as soon as we come back."  
  
With that, Vegeta left. 


	13. Pure white crystals

___Chapter 13___  
  
At midnight, everyone had fallen asleep.   
  
Except for one lonely widow who sat up and held the body of her love in her arms.   
  
But then, Oboe felt an energy in the air, and a cool breeze passed her lips. Something touched her head, and her hand touched a face when she reached out into the seemingly empty air. Although she could not see anything, she knew who it was.  
  
A ghostly voice whispered softly, but with just the right tint of sarcasm "Stop fussing over me, Oboe. You need your rest. The sooner you sleep, the sooner it's tomorrow, the sooner you get me the hell outa here."  
  
Then Oboe was lifted up, and suddenly she could see him. She flew forward, hugged him, and cried out "Piccolo! How did you get here?"  
  
Strangely enough, he WAS there, dead though. His body and spirit were both in the room, but separate from each other.  
  
"You know, I have no idea why I'm here. I'm dead, but not. One second, I'm trudging down snake way, getting ready to be bored to hell as I sit around Kaio-sama's, wishing I could see you, the next I'm here. And I saw you crying. Why were you crying?" Oboe gave his ghostly face a kiss. He still looked like Piccolo, but he was totally a ghostly blue. And his eyes shone white...  
  
"You look so... weird! Did you know you look good in blue? The outfit I mean, not the blue skin. And I was crying because I miss you." she said as she gave him another kiss.  
  
"God Oboe you're weird." he laughed out softly.  
  
---  
Downstairs, Vegeta awoke with a jump as he heard a yell. Somehow, noone else woke up, not even Bulma after Vegeta 'accidentally' kicked her in the face. Looking around confused, he cursed and whispered "Alright, who the hell just said my name? And do I know that voice?" as he crept slowly up the stairs.  
  
Then he heard Oboe start laughing. "Has she gone mad?" he said aloud. Vegeta rolled his eyes, and rubbed his face with his hand muttering to himself about crazy nameks. When he removed his hand, he saw Gohan at the top of the stairs, staring at the room Vegeta had left Oboe in.  
  
Gohan's face was a pale white as he turned around and whispered "I'm hallucinating, Vegeta. It hasn't been that long, a couple hours at most, and I'm hallucinating. I didn't do this as a kid, why now... crap." the boy proceeded to fall to the floor, crying and laughing in hysterical intervals.  
  
Vegeta just stood there shocked. {{The kid's lost it!}} he thought to himself as he walked over to Gohan, who babbled out "I'm hearing voices. It hasn't even been a day, damnit, and I'm loosing my damn mind." Vegeta tried to calm Gohan down because the kid was scaring him, but since he had no experience in that area, it came to no avail. Then he noticed the door was cracked open the slightest bit, and he left the psychotic boy and peeked through the crack.  
  
All he saw was a pure white eye, which seemed to be staring back at him.  
  
"AAAHHHH!!!!" two voices screamed in unison.  
  
"There goes that damn voice again! I really have gone nuts, haven't I?" Gohan laughed out as he shook. He was laughing so hard he was crying. Or vice versa.  
  
Since jumping back from the door, Vegeta had landed next to Gohan and was sitting down. He looked over at the boy and said "If you're crazy because you're hearing things, then so am I, I guess. How about we both go up there together and open the door?"  
  
Gohan nodded and added "Might as well..." as the two stood up and headed for the door.  
  
---  
Oboe giggled briefly when Piccolo yelled and fell back. "What got into you? I didn't know dead people got scared! Let alone you!" she smiled out as he gave her an annoyed look and said  
  
"Well, when one second I see nothing and the next all I can see is somebody's eye in my face, I get surprised. And where did you get the notion I was scared! I am never scared! I was just startled, that's all."  
  
He stood up, and then they heard the door open, and a thump, followed by a second. "Hey, look who's here!" laughed out Piccolo.  
  
---  
Vegeta and Gohan had walked up to the door and opened it together. Upon seeing his friend, Gohan mumbled out "Told 'ya I was hallucinating." and fell unconscious to the ground. Vegeta just stood there for a second. {{He's not the only one! That's what the kid was talking about.}} thought Vegeta as he collapsed to the floor as well.  
  
When he woke up a few minutes later, the first thing he saw was Oboe's hand slapping his face to get him up. He rubbed it, sat up, and said "That was a helluva dream. I dreamt that..." and as Vegeta turned to see Oboe, he saw her sitting next to... "P.. Piccolo!" he squeaked out, a tint of fear in his shocked voice.  
  
"Told you we're loosing our minds. Now we're both hallucinating." cackled out the sayian/human behind the sayian prince.  
  
The spirit that was Piccolo raised an eyebrow, and said "Hallucination? Oh.. me! You think I'm a hallucination! I'll show you a hallucination!" Piccolo walked over to Vegeta and picked up his sayian friend. "Can a hallucination do this?" the warrior smirked as he slapped Vegeta across the face and kicked his ass straight into the roof with a "ha!". Then Veg thumped to the ground, his pride hurt more than anything else on him, and Piccolo frowned and said "Now tell me why in hell you touched my guitar?"  
  
Vegeta could only rub his sore gingerly, turn his head around, and exclaim "That's what you were screaming about when I got woken up! By the gods, you are the real one! Only you would remember something from that long ago! I injured your 'sacred' guitar about nine years ago and you're still annoying me about some tiny scratch!"  
  
Piccolo shot him an amused/pissed off look and said "That was no scratch! You broke it in half you moron!"  
  
They continued like that for a while, arguing like the old friends they were, discussing everything from what's happen in the last few hours, to old times and battles, the house, and a host of other ideas.  
  
But then Gohan broke in and said "I'm not crazy after all. You are real. Kind of, you know what I mean." Piccolo could only sigh with a slight smile as he slapped Gohan's face jokingly.  
  
Gohan continued, saying "Oh yeah, I just remembered, earlier last night, one of the other kids accidentally mentioned you, and Lute started crying. Not too long after that he told us about what happened between you two just before the fighting started. He feels really horrible. You should say something to him."  
  
Piccolo nodded grimly, and Oboe stood up and whispered "I'll get him."  
  
"I'm already here." a small voice said, and Lute appeared, crawling partway out of his hiding spot behind the door.  
  
---  
"I heard some noise and came over. What's with you anyway dad? You look weird." Lute said quietly. It was obvious on his face that the boy had been crying, and had tried to hide all signs of it before coming in the room.  
  
{{Tryna be like his 'badass' father I'd guess.}} Vegeta thought silently in his head when he saw how Lute was attempting to look 'brave'.  
  
Piccolo smiled gently as he picked up his young son. "Hey kid. Heard you guys had a hard time since I left."  
  
Lute hugged him tight and let tears flow from his little eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't hate you. Honest I don't. I was just mad, that's all."  
  
Piccolo let a look of concerned affection wash over his face as he lifted up Lute's head and said softly "Hey, I know. I was mad too. But I shouldn't have cursed at you. I was just concerned. You're the only son I've got, and I love you, Lute. I don't want anything to happen to you." then, smiling, he added "And you're not the only one to blow up at people. That's one thing you didn't get from your mother." Piccolo stopped temporally, just long enough to give Oboe (who was stifling a laugh) a mock annoyed look, then continued "And you're crying. Why are you crying?"  
  
Lute looked up, eyes in tears, and said "Because I thought you would never speak to me after that, but you did. I... really missed you."  
  
Piccolo hugged Lute tight, the faintest sigh of a tear in his eye. Then he whispered something to him, and sent the young child back to bed. Lute fell asleep shortly after that.  
  
"Really cute kid you got there Piccolo. Sure he's related to you?" said Vegeta. Everyone except the sayian laughed at that, even Piccolo, and that was the reason he didn't laugh. Vegeta was too shocked to laugh.  
  
Gohan yawned, and said "I'm too tired to stand. Gonna go now guys. Night Oboe, Piccolo, Vegeta. See you two in the morning." And with that he went downstairs and fell asleep.  
  
---   
"What does he mean, 'you two'? There are three of us here!" Vegeta wondered aloud.  
  
Piccolo turned to his friend and said "I can't stay here much longer. I don't know how I got here, but I do know that I can only stay for another seven minutes or so. I can feel it."  
  
"WHAT!?!? You can't leave! You just got back!!" Vegeta yelled in a tone not far from anguish.  
  
"I'm still not back. I'm dead. I just got here somehow." he answered as Vegeta slumped into a chair.  
  
Oboe walked over to Piccolo. "Do you mind, Vegeta?" she said softly, indicating the sayian should leave.  
  
"He may not mind, but neither do I." Piccolo smiled as he swept Oboe up in his arms and kissed her, just as he had on that faraway night seven years ago. "Hey Vegeta, you take care of Oboe while I'm gone, ok?" said Piccolo as he turned after two minutes had passed. "Take care of yourself too, bottelbrush!" he laughed out at the end of his statement.  
  
The two friends engaged in a fight as the last five minutes ended. That short amount of time seemed to go too fast, the silly peace of a mock battle between friends was to be suddenly stopped when Piccolo noticed himself becoming faint.  
  
He sighed softly, and closed his hand into a fist position, staring at it sadly as the color faded more and more.  
  
Vegeta merely stared, wide eyed in shock as he said with a faint shriek in his voice "W...what the... what's happening to you?!?"  
  
"I'm fading" Piccolo said quietly without emotion.  
  
Oboe, unable to just sit and watch anymore, ran up to Piccolo, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed his lips softly. Then she laid her head on his shoulder and cried.  
  
Piccolo stroked the back of his hand softly over her face, wiping her tears away as he gave her a small smile, and kissed her cheek. Then he looked up at Vegeta and said "See you later, my friend. And I love you Oboe."  
  
Then he was gone. 


	14. Light in darkness

___Chapter 14___  
  
It was the next morning. Everyone was getting ready for the upcoming trip. Oboe, Vegeta, and Gohan would be the ones going on to the new Namek to get the dragonballs  
  
Bulma was standing outside in the rain, huddling in her poncho, watching the sky for the ship she had asked her father bring over the day before after sending him the coordinates. And so she stood, soaked to the bone, waiting patiently for her father to get his ass moving so she could go dry off. The light, continuous stream of water kept falling from the sky, and the utter silence of the rain was broken suddenly by a voice.  
  
"When do you think Dr. Briefs will get here?" asked someone behind Bulma, who turned around and saw Oboe standing, looking up to the sky with her arms wrapped lightly around herself.  
  
"Why are you out here, Oboe? You don't even have a coat on! And are you gonna wear that dress on your trip? It'll get ruined!" said Bulma as she dropped her attention from the sky for a moment.  
  
Oboe smiled at her and replied "No I'm not wearing this dress to Nameksei! I was just wearing it because it was his favorite. He always said it looked so nice with my eyes..." Bulma would have seen a faint tear streak from one of Oboe's sapphire blue irises, but the rain already gave it that appearance. "Do you remember when you took me to get this?"  
  
Bulma laughed. "How could I forget? It's a good thing you transformed to human, or there would have been a small amount of chaos. And before you got that, you said you didn't like dresses Oboe!"  
  
"Then I only owned one dress, the one Vegeta gave me to spite Piccolo. you know, the long purple one."  
  
"Yeah, wasn't that your wedding dress too?"  
  
"Yes. Now THAT was a wonderful day. *sighs* Piccolo was even nice to Kami then. I can't quite remember at this moment who made the preparations for the wedding, wasn't it Vegeta and you?"  
  
"Yup, my husband and I set up everything."  
  
Then Oboe squinted her eyes, looked up, and shouted "I see something! Is that the ship Bulma?"  
  
Bulma swirled around and waved to the sky as she said "It is!!! Yes, my dad's here!"  
  
Oboe glanced down at her drenched dress and said "I have to get changed! See you later Bulma!" as she ran inside.  
  
---  
The commotion only heightened with the landing of capsule ship 9. The small amount of supplies were packed, and the fuel was refilled with stores that had been packed for that reason. Now there was enough in the ship for a round trip, and more incase they got sidetracked.  
  
As if the ship was some sort of light into the darkness, the soft dreary patter of rain disappeared shortly after the supplies were onboard, and the resulting sunshine brightened the landscape to a new day, and new hopes.  
  
Gohan and Vegeta walked up to the ship, having already said their good-byes, waiting for the last member of their little expedition.  
  
"I'm coming! Wait a second for god's sake!" yelled out Oboe as she pushed through the crowd and ran up to the ship. She was wearing a deep blue gi, which looked decently like Piccolo's. "Sorry I took so long, I had to get something dry. Are we ready to take off yet?" Oboe said as the three walked into the ship.  
  
"Yeah, the coordinates are set, all our gear is packed, the communication are fine, all systems are running at optimum potential, fuel is full, everything's perfect" Gohan checked off his mental list as she looked around.  
  
"Where's our supplies?"  
  
"Down there Oboe. In that cargo hatch." Gohan answered haphazardly as he tinkered with some instruments at the control panel.  
  
Oboe looked down at the small amount of supplies they were taking. Mostly capsules, and a bag of senzu beans, compliments of Corin. A few associated things, like some training equipment. That was it. For a second, she thought she saw something else, but then it was gone, and Oboe forgot about it.  
  
Finally it was blast-off time. As the door began to close, everyone was shouting their encouragement. Chi-chi was instructing Gohan on correct safety procedures, but the annoying noise faded as Goku clamped his hand over her mouth. Chi-chi started flailing like a rabid dog, and Gohan nearly fell over laughing. Goku just smiled a big toothy grin, flashed a peace sign with his free hand, and said "Seeya later guys! I know you can do it!"  
  
Oboe's eyes scanned the crowd, and she was surprised not to see Lute. She thought for certain he would be visible. But by the time that thought left her head, the hatch had closed, and Capsule Corp's space pod nine had blasted off into the wild blue yonder, and beyond. 


	15. Weakness

___Chapter 15___  
  
The rest of the day went smoothly. The training equipment was brought up, and the gravity was set to 200x earth's normal gravity. There was no known enemy approaching, but a chance to train in enhanced gravity was not one to be passed up. When night arrived, Gohan and Vegeta fell asleep on the floor in the training room, with the gravity still on. Oboe just sat up in bed.  
  
She could not sleep. Like she could not the night before. But that night she had had an excuse not to sleep, she had been working on the supplies and such for the trip. Oboe had no such excuse tonight.  
  
It was just that... this was the first time in nine years she had tried to go to sleep without him beside her.  
  
It felt too cold, too lonely, without his strong arms encircling her and clutching her close to him, so that Oboe would fall asleep to the gentle beating of his heart and the slow motion of his chest as he breathed.  
  
She could not rest. Her body was on alert, she usually was tense at night, ever since the time in her childhood when...  
  
"That's enough. I'd rather not like to think about that, thank you." Oboe said to herself as she lay down, trying to sleep. "This is going to be a long night." She blinked away a tear, and whispered "I wish you were here, my beloved. Oh, where are you Piccolo?"  
  
Then a small shape moved in the darkness, and a little hand touched her head. A feeling of coolness swept over Oboe, and she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.  
  
---  
Lute took his hand from his mother's head. "Poor mom, you're a wreck. Hope you don't mind the sleeping spell. Sorry if you do, you need the rest" he said as he walked out of the room.  
  
Lute had stolen away on the space pod, determined to help. He wasn't going to be left out this time. Even though the night before Oboe had told him he had to stay at home, he had snuck on when the cargo was being loaded. Between the rain and his friends distracting the loaders, he had gotten on without being noticed.  
  
Lute glanced at Vegeta and Gohan as he passed them on his walk through the pod. They were slumped on the ground, their backs against each other, and Gohan was snoring loudly. It made for a pretty funny scene- until you glanced on the light on the gravitron that said "250x".  
  
"I'm not even gonna try to go in there, I won't be able to move" he said to himself for the sake of talking as he continued to stroll about the ship.  
  
It was twice as big as the first space pod, the one Goku had took to the original planet Namek. It had the main room with the gravitron and the kitchen below it, but it also had five small rooms instead of one. And only the main room was affected by the gravitron, the rest was left at normal gravity.  
  
Lute glanced at Vegeta and Gohan's rooms as he passed them. Gohan's looked typically like that of any 20 year old boy- a total mess with all sorts of junk tossed through it. Vegeta's room was very plain. The only thing on the wall was a band poster for "The nameless ones".  
  
Finally Lute got bored, and went back into the cargo hold to sleep.  
  
---  
The sky was bright, the only clouds were below him, and the road was before him. And on, and on, and on. And on some more. The road went on forever it seemed. Piccolo was bored out of his mind. Everything was so plain on snake way. The only thing that changed was how the road looped.  
  
He knew he could go faster then just trudging along with his arms crossed, but he hated the idea of being stuck with Kaio-sama and his stupid jokes. He wasn't going for training, he was much stronger than King Kai, Piccolo was just going there for somewhere to stay while the others got the dragonballs.  
  
He was utterly bored. It wasn't THIS bad last time. Then he'd had standable people around him. He had someone with him now, but this one only asked uncomfortable and/or personal questions EVERY FIVE SECONDS.  
  
"But why didn't you tell me you had a son?" asked Kami once more.  
  
Piccolo stopped, turned around, and screamed right in the old god's face "I told you to SHUT UP!!! I'm sick of you asking me that question! You don't have to know everything about my life! I don't even know why you're here!! You weren't here the last time I died! Why the hell now!?!"  
  
Kami, staring up at Piccolo's rage filled eyes, answered as calmly as he could "I don't know. I just know that we have to keep going and stop fighting each other."  
  
They continued walking with an eerie silence between them.  
  
Then, more silently, the old namek added "And I'm sorry for asking you so many questions. I should know you well enough by now to understand what you are like. You may have changed much, but your... dislike for me, will never change, and you hold secrets deep in your heart from me. I know that you do not like when I interfere in your life. But we are connected, and you are my son. Even though your father and I were separate, we are one and the same. There are some times when I must interfere."  
  
Piccolo's hunched-up shoulders slacked down the slightest bit, and, his back still turned, he said "You can read me like a book. I really hate that."  
  
Kami was silent.  
  
"I have no idea why I'm saying this, but... I don't really know why I didn't tell you about Lute. Ok?"  
  
Kami pushed past Piccolo and kept walking without saying a single word to his 'son'.  
  
"Where the hell are you going? You're not going to try and 'talk' to me like the bastard you usually are? You've decided not to give me any more of your bullshit? That's a change for the better!"  
  
Kami glanced back for only a second. But the look on his face was enough to shut Piccolo up. A barely contained rage was boiling in the god's face. Kami had never responded to Piccolo's insults before. He just bore it quietly. But... Piccolo had hit a raw nerve this time, and Kami was having a hard time taking it. It was only when he disappeared over the horizon that Piccolo remembered he was suppose to be following. Piccolo leapt up, flew to about 1/4th a mile in front of the god, and started walking again.  
  
The two continued down snake way once more, but quieter now, and a bit faster.  
  
---  
When Oboe woke up that morning, she automatically rolled over, looking for Piccolo. Seeing she was alone, she sat up.  
  
"Where am I?" she whispered to herself as she looked around.  
  
"Oh... I forgot. The ship. That's where I am." said Oboe quietly as she stood up, wearing only her underclothes.  
  
Oboe shook the sleepiness out of her head, walked over to one of the walls, and took the framed rose off it. She stroked her hand over the smooth glass, a tiny smile appearing as she remembered when she had gotten it. It had been the first thing Piccolo ever gave her. A bigger one spread across her lips as she remembered something else. Right after that, she had given him his first kiss....  
  
Oboe clutched the blossom tight to her heart, her eyes fluttering shut as she remembered it- the shock on his face when she pulled away from his cheek a second later, how he had sat there for a full minute (before even breathing it seemed), and then put a hand to his cheek, closed his eyes, and pulled his hand away, staring at it in disbelief, the smile that had crossed his face, and how he had turned his head down to look at her, staring up into his dark eyes with her sapphire ones, merely inches apart, and.. when the confusion totally faded from his face, and he laid his hand on the back of her head, pulled her a bit closer, and kissed her lips softly...  
  
She sighed again, a tear coming to her eyes as she placed the frame back on the wall. How could he possibly be dead if these memories were so alive in her mind, if something like that from twelve years ago could be so vivid? He had been so strong in every way imaginable, how could he have been killed so easily...?  
  
Then it struck her. He did have one weakness-  
  
his heart.  
  
He had not been born with all the emotions most people were, Piccolo was lacking all those that had stayed in Kami, the 'good' emotions. He had to be taught those. And it was much harder for him to be able to accept those things he had been taught over the demonic nature born in his soul. His heart, not the physical thing, but the embodiment of all those emotions called 'heart', was his weak spot. Kartak had struck at his in both ways. That was what had killed him. If Piccolo had never been taught those emotions, he would never had placed himself between death and his family. In fact, if it wasn't for those emotions, he wouldn't have a family at all. Indirectly, Oboe had caused his death. His love for her had killed him. If he had never known love, he would still be alive... but what kind of a life would that be?  
  
Oboe brushed her hand across her face to try and silence her thoughts as she pulled her clothes on, and went out into the main room to see how the boys were doing. It didn't matter. He was going to come back to her. No matter what she had to do to do that. Then she could muse over her thoughts. Not before. 


	16. Laughter and Likenesses

___Chapter 16___  
  
All the days passed the same, training during the day, Gohan and Vegeta collapsing in the training room, and Lute secretly helping his mother to fall asleep at night before his nightly stroll.  
  
But starting the second day, Lute began to slowly attempt to enter the gravity room. Each day he got better and better, and by the sixth day, he discovered he could stand up. But, that was all he could do.  
  
"Ut-oh! Great! I'm stuck! What an embarrassing way to be found out! My mom is going to kill me when she hears about this." Lute said quietly as he saw Gohan and Vegeta begin to stir.  
  
---  
Gohan woke up slowly, stretching his tired limbs as he looked at the ceiling.  
  
"Oh god, what are you doing here!! Gohan! Look to your left!" yelled Vegeta.  
  
Gohan did as asked, and laughed when he saw Lute standing there.  
  
"Ok. I've been caught. Are you going to make me stay like this as punishment, or are you gonna turn that stupid machine off?" asked Lute in a snappish voice.  
  
Gohan stopped laughing when he remembered the gravity. It was at 250x normal! And the kid could stand up!! Also, he was about 1/2 way through the room. That meant that Lute had somehow traveled to the middle of the training center. In that gravity.  
  
Gohan let out a low whistle and said "Woah. You're a tough kid."  
  
Lute glanced his eyes toward him and answered "My dad trained me."  
  
"Me too! So, did he leave you out in the wilderness to start it?"  
  
"No! Why would he do that?"  
  
"How DID he train you then?"  
  
"The general sorta stuff- fighting techniques, how to watch your opponent, and all sorts of other awesome things."  
  
"Did anything ever happen to you?"  
  
"Nah. My dad beat the crap out of me a couple times when I was practically asking for it, but nothing major ever happened. *grins* Except for once when I was four. I saw my dad flying and decided I could too, so I jumped off one of the cliffs near our house."  
  
Gohan laughed out loud.  
  
"Could of killed myself if I had decided to 'fly' from one of the bigger ones. Those go up a mile or so. But since I picked a midget hill, I fell about thirty feet and slammed right on my backside. *winces* It HURT like hell! My dad saw me fall, but he couldn't catch me before I hit. When he did get to me a few seconds later, he picked me up, started cursing me off, and flew me to my mom. She was ready to kill him before he explained that he wasn't the one who had done it to me. That was the only major thing that ever happened."  
  
"Shit."  
  
"Yeah. I've gotten much better at flying since. I'm no longer 'suicidal boy', as my dad called me for about three months after that."  
  
They both started laughing, and then Gohan got back to their earlier topic, saying "Well, Piccolo left me out in the middle of nowhere when I was five years old."  
  
"I'm only six, and he's been training me for four years!"  
  
"Oh yeah? Hey Vegeta, turn the gravity off so our little stole-away can move!"  
  
"Sure." said the sayian a he switched the machine off.  
  
Instantly, Lute sat down. "What a relief! I was thinking I would never move again! I was standing like that for nine hours, at least!" smiled Lute as the yawned and stretched his aching limbs.  
  
"Now the bad part. Time to go tell your mom."  
  
The young namek's antennae stood straight up on end as he shrieked out "Oh no! Anything but that! She'll kill me!"  
  
"Sorry little guy. I have to tell her." Gohan said as he reached out his hand. Lute sighed, and gave Gohan his.  
  
The two walked to Oboe's room, and Gohan knocked on the door. When noone answered, he knocked louder, and after that he noticed the door was unlocked, and he poked his head in.  
  
"Oboe? Are you awake?" he called out. Still no answer. Then Gohan flipped the light on, walked to the side of the bed, and shook her shoulder. "Oboe! Hey! Wake up! OBOE!" he yelled in her face.  
  
Oboe's sapphire eyes fluttered open, and she glanced to her right. She sighed, and sat up, rubbing her eyes and pushing the covers away from herself as she mumbled "What is it Gohan, why did you wake me up?"  
  
"It's about Lute. He's..."  
  
"What happened to Lute! Oh god! Don't tell me he's hurt! He's all I have left! What happened to him! TELL ME!!!!" Oboe shrieked hysterically as she leapt out of bed and jumped right in the boy's face.  
  
Gohan clasped his hands to her shoulders and said "Chill out! Lute is fine! He's here!"  
  
Oboe froze. She sat down and said with a voice as hard and cold as steel "What did you just say?"  
  
Gohan sent a glance toward the door and Lute, head hung, stepped from behind it.  
  
In the same stern voice, Oboe whispered "Lute, I told you not to come. Why did you come."  
  
Lute was too ashamed to look his mother in the eyes. "I..." he choked on his words, and hesitated before saying "Sorry. I had to come. Don't you remember the battle?" Lute became more bold and looked his mother in the eyes as he continued to speak. "If I had been there to help in the first place, dad might still be alive. I feel like it's my fault. Now I'm going to fix it. I'm going to help bring him back! He'd do the same for me!! Now I've gotta be strong, like him, and I'm not gonna sit around when he needs me!"  
  
Oboe reached down and picked up her young son. "Lute, you are all I have left. I know you want to help, but I want to keep you safe." She hugged him tight, a small tear coming from her closed eye as she patted the back of his little head. He was soo much like her old friend it scared her sometimes...  
  
Lute didn't speak. He just tied his arms around his anocha's neck and let her hug him. He understood.  
  
She pulled back from the embrace, and added "There's another reason I wanted you to stay. I'm going to disguise myself as a normal namekian while we're there. I'd cause too much confusion if I went like this. If you come along, you might blow my cover."  
  
Lute laughed out loud, and said in laughing disbelief "You're going to dress up as a GUY?"  
  
"No, I'm going to transform! You DO know I can do that, don't you? *Lute shakes his head* Oh, you don't. Sorry. Anyway, because of these earrings, I can transform as long as I like."  
  
"How did you get them? did dad give them to you?"  
  
Oboe laughed, and shook her head no. "Your father's a great man, and as smart as hell when he wants to be, *laughs* but he'd never be able to figure out how to make these, sweetheart. A very special man gave them to me when I was just a tiny thing. You wouldn't know him, he died well before you were born."  
  
"Who was he anyway? Please tell me."  
  
Oboe smiled as she placed Lute back on the ground, and said "I knew him as Sanchiro.  
  
Gohan couldn't help but yell out "Guru! How did you know Guru!"  
  
Oboe stood up and answered "I knew Sanchiro about five centuries before you did, Gohan."  
  
"WHAT!!? I'm...I...I don't get it. How can you be that old! You'd be as old as Kami!"  
  
"I am as old as Kami! Actually, I'm about two minutes older."  
  
Gohan looked about ready to faint at that point.  
  
"Maybe I'll tell you the whole thing later. Right now we have more pressing issues at hand. Look out the window." said Oboe.  
  
Gohan and Lute ventured out of the room, and after throwing her clothes on, Oboe got out just it time to see Gohan pressing his nose against the glass of the big window in the training room and yelling "It's Namek! Yeah! We're finally there!"  
  
Vegeta, who had been training, walked over to the window and added "Looks just like the old one. Wonder if it's a coincidence or not."  
  
"I remember this place, sure as hell I do. It looks EXACTLY the same." Oboe said as she stared wistfully out at her old home. It DID look just like the old one, and... "I even get the same FEELING from it." She let that thought sink into her head for a few seconds before continuing with "What's the gravity on anyway? I can feel a decent amount of pull on me."  
  
Vegeta laughed. "Go look for yourself."  
  
Oboe walked over to the gravitron and almost fell over when she read the level. "Wow. 250x earth's gravity. I have been training, haven't I?" Oboe then knocked the gravity down to 25x and asked Lute, who had been sitting in the hallway, if he wanted to come in now. He did, with ease.  
  
"Wow mom, is that the planet Namek?" Lute said as he peeked up over the bottom rim of the window.  
  
Oboe smiled at the comical site of Lute standing on his tip-toes to look in the window, and replied "Yes son. That is my home planet. It may not be the original, but it's still Nameksei."  
  
The ship then started it's decent into atmosphere, and only more confusion flooded into Oboe's head as they slowly descended. She was recognizing landmasses... it looked EXACTLY the same..... to the slightest detail of her memory. She had to sit down and look away from the window after a while it was so shocking. Oboe pulled her legs up to her chest and closed her eyes, humming "Pillar of Davidson" as the time passed.  
  
She didn't notice when the ship landed, but then the door opened and a rush of cool namekian air filled the capsule. Even THAT was the same... her eyes opened slowly to see that the others were not in the room with her.  
  
"Gone to ready our supplies I guess." she whispered to herself as she stood up and leaned slightly out the door. 


	17. Flowers

___Chapter 17___  
  
The air was strangely silent, but not that frightening silence that makes one think of dead things. It was a sweet silence, and a warm wind blew by gently as Oboe peered outside into the bright, namekian sunshine.  
  
A familiar site greeted her as she stared out at the valley they had landed. Oboe's eyes flew wide, in the greatest shock she had ever felt, as she stumbled out into the valley. This place.... It had been where she and her two best friends had played as children.  
  
Oboe laid on her back and stared up in wonder as she recognized soo many little things, tiny details that were forever burnt into her childhood memory...  
  
The gentle slope of the valley sides with the big rocks sheltering and shading it, the ancient tree growing in the very center, the smooth, silky texture of the grass, the places the flowers grew...  
  
"FLOWERS!!!" Oboe screamed aloud. She leapt up from her spot and clasped her hands around one of the blossoms in question, a beautiful pink plant with large petals. She trembled as it's name arose in her memory.  
  
The adjica.  
  
She sat up and stared around her, an utter childlike joy filling her whole being. The adjica. It was really the adjica. Oboe had cried when she had learned that the plant had been totally stripped from her home. And now there she sat, in her favorite place in the whole world, and it was still as beautiful and innocent as it had been when she was a little girl.  
  
"At least some things in life are sacred...." Oboe whispered as she leant back against the side of the ship, her eyes closed in a blissful peace, the most complete peace she had known since she had left her home. The beautiful silence filled her ears, and she twined her hand gently into the velvety blue/green grass.  
  
{{So peaceful.... I almost expect to see Palidor and Damaiou running up to ask me to play...}}  
  
Her train of thought was broken when Gohan and Vegeta walked out of the ship, and called out her name. She stood, slowly, and walked up to them. Before abandoning her spot though, she patted the grass lovingly, and whispered "Oh Piccolo... You don't know what you missed, growing up on earth..."  
  
---  
Lute was sitting on top of the ship, astonished with all he was seeing. {{So THIS is where mom grew up.... cool.}} he whispered in his head as he stared out at the green sky with it's wispy yellow clouds.  
  
Then he saw his mother appear, and he leapt down. She smiled at him, and placed her hand on his little head.  
  
"Yo, where've you been?" Gohan asked upon seeing Oboe.  
  
"Thinking. Remembering. It has been a long time since I've seen this place." she said as she picked Lute up and hoisted him on her shoulders. The two smiled at each other, and began to laugh.  
  
"Mom..."  
  
Oboe glanced back at Lute.  
  
"Mom, what am I going to do this whole time?"  
  
"You'll be our lookout! You can watch the ship for us, and make sure nothing happens to it."  
  
"Ok."  
  
Lute hopped off his mom's shoulders, stood in front of the ship, and saluted. Gohan and Oboe both smiled. Vegeta remained silent, looking away with back turned and arms crossed.  
  
{{This is no time for laughing. We've got something to go, and we're damn well gonna do it.}} he scowled in his mind. "Come on! Move your asses people! We should be getting busy!"  
  
Gohan glanced with slight annoyance at the sayian, said goodbye to Lute, and walked up to Vegeta, yelling back "He's right Oboe. The sooner we start looking, the sooner we can get Piccolo back!"  
  
Oboe touched her hands to her earrings, closed her eyes, and whispered "Wait a sec." Then she whispered something softly and an opaque ribbon of blue energy grew like a vine, surrounding her and hugging to her body like a second skin. A sphere of white energy encased her, and exploded in a flash of light.  
  
---  
Vegeta blinked and coughed as the dust cleared and his sight returned.  
  
When he saw the spot where Oboe had been standing, he was rather confused for a second. The namek he saw looked like Oboe, but Vegeta could tell easily it was a guy.  
  
"How'd it go? Am I convincing enough?" said Oboe as she glanced at herself, and walked over to Gohan and Vegeta. She looked sort of like Neru, but her features were softer, and she was still an inch shy of seven feet. She still had her old voice, but it was sufficiently different.  
  
Vegeta glanced at the ring on her arm and her earrings. "Are you sure you should wear that jewelry?"  
  
Oboe's hand flew protectively to her ring. "I need the earrings to stay transformed, and I'm never taking this off. He gave it to me when we were married." she said defiantly.  
  
Gohan looked at her and said "You've gotta do whatever you can to try and fit in Oboe. The smallest thing could give your secret away. Then it would be ALOT harder to do this. If you won't listen to me, listen to yourself. Your heart knows what is best. Trust it."  
  
Oboe sighed. She knew Gohan was right. Slowly, and almost painfully it seemed, she slipped it off her arm. She touched a hand to her earring, and was encased in a white light as she assumed her normal form (once she uses a form, she can regain it easily). Oboe stared at her little trinket longingly, and turned to face Lute.  
  
"Sweetheart, please watch this for me while I'm gone. You know how important it is to me." she said softly, placing the ring in her son's hands. He nodded, not saying a word as his mother ran to join the others.  
  
Lute watched them walk off, sighed at the thought of missing such an adventure, and waltzed back into the ship to drop the ring on his anocha's bed. Then he went back outside, flew to the top of the ship, and watched the clouds. {{This is a pretty cool place...}} he thought silently as he watched the word go slowly by... 


	18. Hurt too much

___Chapter 18___  
  
"How exactly do we go about this guys?" said Gohan as they sat in a clearing overlooking one of the villages. "They're sure to remember Vegeta, at least one of them, and how are we going to explain who YOU are, Oboe?"  
  
Vegeta frowned and replied "I see your point. They won't be too eager to help me. And you can't go as one of there guys. For all we know, one of there elders might know every last person on this planet And be able to tell you're a fake, and there go our chances. You couldn't take any other disguise, you need to stay as a namek, but you can't be one from here. Who could you possib..."  
  
He stopped in mid sentence, almost stuttering as he realized the only alternative.  
  
Her eyes went wide in shock as she realized what Vegeta was talking about. "You.. can't be serious! Then how will we explain coming here for dragonballs?"  
  
"We can say it was someone who died before, like Kakkarott."  
  
"Vegeta, I don't think I can do this."  
  
"You have to Oboe."  
  
"I... I can't.... *clenches her fists* I just CAN'T! Do you have ANY idea what you're asking me to do!?!?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"*low growling voice* Vegeta... it would hurt too much."  
  
Vegeta gave her a weird look.  
  
"No... I don't mean physically, I mean emotionally. Like sticking a dagger in a wound I'm trying to heal. I can't do it Vegeta."  
  
Suddenly Gohan broke in cheerfully, saying "You can do it Oboe! It's alright! If that's what you gotta do, do it! Piccolo wouldn't mind you taking his form."  
  
Oboe sighed. She'd lost the argument. She touched her hands to her earrings, went into her earlier form, and lingered like that for a second.  
  
Suddenly she shot up an inch, and her features hardened tremendously. She looked far more imposing than she had before. She even managed to turn her blue gi a dark purple/black.  
  
Gohan let out his second low whistle that day. "You know, I've said this more than once without thinking before, but I really mean it this time. You look just like Piccolo."  
  
"Basically, I am him." Oboe said. She nearly fell over backwards when she heard his voice coming from herself.  
  
Vegeta glanced over and said "That's something you'll have to get used to if you're going to come with us at all."  
  
"Vegeta, you'd have to kill me to make me stay. I made a promise, and I'm not going to break it."  
  
Gohan nodded. "I kinda know how you feel. He's a great guy once you get to know him. But I can't say I know exactly how you feel..."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Gohan was silent. The rest of the sentence was said quietly in his mind- {{...because he cared about you far more then he ever did me.}}  
  
Noone said a word for another minute.  
  
Then Oboe jumped down the slope to the village. Gohan jumped right after her, and Vegeta leapt down as he mumbled "Wonder what kind of havoc we'll wreak this time?"  
  
---  
The village was basically the same as any of those from before. They still grew the adjica, almost as if it was a tradition they just felt like keeping.  
  
Noone looked twice when they saw a namekian jump to the ground from outside the village. Some of them smiled upon recognizing the older Gohan, and were about to go over when they saw Vegeta appear. Everyone remembered Vegeta. What made the situation even worse was the fact that some of these people had been killed by Vegeta before.  
  
Oboe looked at the tension that had formed and buried her face in her hands as she mumbled sarcastically "Well, this has gotten off to a wonderful start."  
  
Gohan was just thinking {{I wish we could of brought Dendea.}}. Then he got really concerned. Some of the warriors were charging up attacks. {{Oh shit! They're going to fight! We can't attack these guys! They're the good guys! I gotta do something rash if I'm going to do anything at all!}}  
  
He ran quickly before the nameks could shoot, and jumped in front of Vegeta, yelling "Stop! He's a friend!"  
  
But Gohan had not traveled as fast as he thought. Two ki blasts had broken out before the young sayian's message could. The energy was hurtling straight at his face when there was a sudden movement, and two beams ricocheted out and canceled the other two about three feet from Gohan's face.  
  
"Yes. Vegeta is a friend now. You have to think before you shoot. Now will you listen to us?" said Oboe as she looked at the warriors who's blasts she had reflected.  
  
Then the elder came out, utter confusion on his face, and the scared-to-hell child who had alerted him quivering behind him. "What's going on out here!" he yelled out "Why are you fighting!"  
  
Then he saw Oboe, Gohan, and Vegeta on the far side of the field.  
  
"Oh my..." he said softly.  
  
One of the warriors who had almost shot Gohan walked up to the elder, saying "Sir! It's the sayian Vegeta! He's come back! I don't know who the boy is, and there's also some strange namek there too. Who are they?"  
  
The elder looked at the three again, and said "Anch, those two with him are two of the ones who tried to save our old home over a decade ago."  
  
There was silence.  
  
"...Are...you certain of that, sir?" Anch stuttered.  
  
"Yes." then looking toward the two, he said "Piccolo and Gohan, if I'm not mistaken on your names."  
  
Gohan nodded. Oboe stood silently.  
  
"Now, what happened here?"  
  
Gohan spoke for their side, and Anch told the other.  
  
The elder nodded after hearing them out, and said "Why have you come here, anyway?" Gohan and Vegeta were quiet. They had no clue what to say. Then Oboe pushed forward.  
  
"Sadly, we're here for the dragonballs. Death has found it's way to us once again."  
  
A voice called out from the crowd "I can trust you and the boy, but what about the sayian? Are you sure that's his motive?"  
  
Needless to say, Vegeta got rather fired up by all this suspicion placed on him. He desperately wanted to go find the person who had said that and... But Gohan had seen the expression oh his face and sent him a look that said 'Don't blow it!'  
  
Oboe was telling the elder as to why they needed the dragonballs. It was rather true to life, but in this variation, Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, and Piccolo were not at the scene of battle when it started. Everyone was hurt badly by the time Goku arrived. He tried to defend them while he waited for the others to come + help, but could not hold out long enough and was killed just as the three arrived. After a decently long battle, the enemy was finally killed. "But since it was our faults he was killed, we are the ones who have come to revive him."  
  
The elder could just begin to sense something strange about this warrior speaking to him. So strange he could not ignore it. {{I must speak to the elders about this. To much is at stake to put into one person's hands.}} he thought to himself as he told the three travelers they would have to await a decision. The three went back to the far side of the field. 


	19. Strangeness

___Chapter 19___  
  
Muuri stood silently atop the strange mountain of rock upon which was his home. As the namekian guru, he had many responsibilities to his people. One of those responsibilities had just presented itself- the dragonballs and the protection of the power those spheres possessed. Once again, someone was seeking them. But this was not the normal group. This one comprised of the child of Son Goku, the sayian prince Vegeta, and Piccolo, the namekian from earth. The obvious problem this presented immediately was Vegeta. But there was a strangeness the elder Ochan had noticed about another of the three- Piccolo.   
  
Not only did Ochan feel a distinct difference in the makeup of Piccolo's ki, but he had also had "unusual black hoops hanging from his ears that radiated an odd sort of power".  
  
Muuri had told the elders not to worry, and to go back to their villages. Ochan would sent the three to him immediately. Now Muuri waited quietly, pondering what could happen.  
  
---  
Gohan was getting slightly tense. They had been sitting around for an hour so far. And he couldn't help but wonder about all the things that could go wrong. There were soo many....  
  
Gohan pushed himself away from his thoughts when Vegeta started cursing. "Hey, what's wrong?"  
  
"I'm BORED! That's what's wrong!" Vegeta yelled out in the boy's face.  
  
Oboe slapped Vegeta soundly in the face, growling "Watch it. You don't want to put us under suspicion, do you?" fiercely, glaring at the sayian the whole time.  
  
Vegeta rolled his eyes and leaned back against a rock face with his arms crossed. "Look who's being miss high-and-mighty, Oboe." he said sarcastically.  
  
Oboe leapt up and clamped her hand over his mouth and hissed with a deadly look on her face "Shut the hell up! Their ears are alot better than you'd think! What if they hear you!"  
  
"Damn you're worried today."  
  
"Yeah. I am."  
  
---  
Lute stretched and yawned slightly as he awoke from the sleep that had overtook him about a 1/2 hour ago. He had fallen asleep under a bright, beautiful sky. Now he was being pelted with rain.  
  
"Shit!" Lute yelled as he jumped off the top of the ship and dashed toward the door. He had left it open.  
  
"Double shit!" he screeched as he jumped inside and closed the door.  
  
After calming down, Lute stared at the soggy mess he had become. That was easier to fix. He just clicked his fingers and jumped up into the air. Lute rocked toward the biggest open space- the training room, and started flying around fast in wide circles until all the water had flown off him.  
  
Then he stopped. Now the training room floor had little puddles of water all over it.  
  
"Triple shit!" he mumbled, kicking a wall irritably. The shiny surface of the wall reflected his downtrodden image perfectly. And the shadows of two people behind him.  
  
Lute swirled around, holding his hands in the position for a masenka as he yelled "FREEZE!!!" at the direction the intruders had gone.  
  
A little shriek was heard, and a voice yelled "Run for it!"  
  
Lute chased the sound, and almost smiled when the one voice reached the locked door and yelled out "We're trapped, Chan!" fearfully. Lute leapt out from the corner, ready to fire at the intruders, and saw.....  
  
Another boy, the same size as him, in the same stance, ready to fire.  
  
Another NAMEKIAN boy.  
  
Lute blinked once, twice, three times before cocking his head to the side and dropping his arms.  
  
The scarlet-clad boy did the same.  
  
Lute then noticed another person hiding behind the first. This one was all huddled up, quivering with fear.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Lute said aloud.  
  
"He's scared. Shina's only three." the other boy said.  
  
"Oh..." Lute shook himself out of his confusion, looked up, and said "Hi. I'm Lute."  
  
"Chan." The boy in scarlet said.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" Lute asked.  
  
"It started raining, and we ducked in this weird thing to get out of it. What are you doing here?"  
  
Lute smiled, and said "This is my spaceship."  
  
Chan's eyes nearly doubled in size. "S...spa...spa... SPACESHIP!?!?!?"  
  
Lute giggled, almost falling over in laughter, and nodded. Then he walked up to the side of the door and pressed a sequence of buttons. The door opened, and Lute glanced out. Clear skies. He smiled, and leapt up into the air to survey the area. Chan's jaw only dropped further. "YOU CAN FLY!!!" he screeched in amazement.  
  
Lute gave him a weird look, and said "Oh course I can! Can't everybody?"  
  
"No! I can't!"  
  
"Why not? Didn't your anoco teach you?"  
  
"No!"  
  
Lute smiled as he floated on his back in the air. "Then that means my dad's better."  
  
"No way!" Chan cocked his head to the side, and said "What village are you from anyway? I don't recognize you."  
  
"I don't live here."  
  
"Then where DO you live?"  
  
"Earth."  
  
Shina finally looked up, and said "Huh? Then how come you look just like a namek?"  
  
"'Cause I am one."  
  
"But all the nameks live on Nameksei. Don't they?"  
  
"My dad didn't. He never lived here. He only came here once, and that was to help kill Frezia."  
  
Utter silence. The two children just stared up in awe at Lute, who was extremely confused.  
  
"No wonder you know how to fly....." Shina said softly.  
  
"You're... you're... you're..." Chan stuttered quietly, and then he pointed straight at Lute and yelled "YOU'RE PICCOLO'S SON??!?!?"  
  
Lute nodded. Chan looked like he was about to fall over. 


	20. Her

___Chapter 20___  
  
The rain was still falling steadily when the elder appeared in front of Gohan, Vegeta, and Oboe and told them what they had to do. When Ochan disappeared into the mist, Oboe stood up.  
  
"Time to get going." she said softly. Gohan nodded. Vegeta just stood up, shook some of the excess water from his hair, and leapt up to hover around tree level. The other two soon followed him, and they streaked through the now-clearing sky.  
  
Everyone had alot of time to think on the flight.  
  
The matter that had been bothering Oboe that first morning on the ship rose once again in her mind. She quickly brushed it away, and hummed "We walk in the dream" softly.  
  
Vegeta found his head harder to clear. A sense of guilt had been rising in his mind steadily, and now that he was unoccupied, it kept gnawing at him. {{I could have done something...}} it kept saying. {{I could have done something, and then he'd still be alive....}}  
  
Gohan occupied himself by watching the landscape fly by him. He now understood what Dendea had told him soo many years ago about the adjica making the planet beautiful. The bright petals of the plant seemed to add such a strange dimension of beauty to the otherwise dreary land. Everything seemed more vibrant and alive...  
  
They were suddenly dragged out of their thoughts when the tall spire of rock appeared on the horizon. Five minutes later, they were standing in front of the old building.  
  
As they stood outside, Gohan and Oboe said simultaneously "It looks exactly the same!"  
  
Vegeta frowned and said "Stop staring at it and let's go in. You have to remember why we came here." as he walked into the structure, Oboe and Gohan close behind him.  
  
---  
Chan and Shina had since recovered from their shock, and were able to talk again. And Lute, feeling sorry for them, taught them to fly.  
  
The three boys were now dashing through the air with wild abandon, laughing their heads off at the sheer craziness of it all. Shy little Shina turned out to be the best flier of them all, running circles around the older boys.  
  
After 1/2 an hour of the fun, the boys had to go home. They promised to come back tomorrow, and not to tell anyone else about Lute being there.  
  
Lute sighed, folding his hands behind his head as he watched his new friends disappear on the horizon. When he finally couldn't see them anymore, he walked back in the ship, locked the door, and went to sleep.  
  
---  
  
It seemed deathly dark inside, compared to the blazing suns of the landscape. But their eyes quickly adjusted, and before them stood Muuri.  
  
Oboe began to tell him their version of needing the dragonballs, but since Muuri had already been told it, he decided to check for the truth in another way while she spoke.  
  
He could not read thoughts, (he wouldn't use such an ability if he had it anyway) but he knew their feelings and emotions.  
  
The young half-sayian Gohan was an even mix of emotions- not too happy, not too sad. He almost always seemed to be that way.  
  
Vegeta, on the other hand, did not feel any happiness. He was full of sorrow, remorse, self-hatred, and guilt. What the other elders had said about him was wrong. The sayian's goal was not conquest. It was healing. Not only to heal the one who had died, but to heal himself in a way.  
  
Then Muuri turned his attention to the namek. Almost in an instant, he felt a strange aura around him. Like he was hiding something. The warrior was such a mix of emotions that Muuri couldn't begin to untwist the spiral of them. So instead, he tried to identify the strange aura. In the memories of Sanchiro (which had settled in Muuri at his death), he recognized it. The warrior before him was not Piccolo. Whoever it was, was transformed. But Muuri could tell the person was one of his people, one of the namekisan-jin.  
  
{{Why would one of my brothers disguise himself as another? Why would they hide their face? It makes no sense! And none of the people of this planet even know how to transform! Did any ever know?}} Muuri wondered silently as he searched his mind for an answer.  
  
Then, from the memories of Sanchiro, he recalled one moment from over five hundred years ago. One young namekian had been given a pair of earrings that enabled her to transform.  
  
Yes, HER.  
  
Could this person before him be the one genetic anomaly, the little girl who had disappeared so long ago, could Oboe have resurfaced now? And in the company of Gohan and Vegeta??? And why had they come here for the dragonballs, telling a story equal parts truth and fiction? Were there not a set on earth?  
  
Then the truth hit him like a cannonball. They couldn't use earth's dragonballs, because they were no longer there. The earth's god must have been killed somehow. Or more precisely (and likely), his other side, Piccolo, had been killed.  
  
But why these three to revive him? Gohan was obvious enough. He had been good friends with the namekian from earth, even idolized him. Vegeta was a little more confusing to find out. A further look into the sayian's feelings showed he had been a good friend of Piccolo, possibly his best friend.  
  
And Oboe?  
  
Muuri could barely dare to speculate about why she wanted to bring back Piccolo, who's disguise she wore. It was simple to see... but seemed soo impossible. Had Oboe, the innocent little fighter-girl who had waking dreams that told the future, fallen in love? And to see it in reverse, had the stone faced and stone hearted 'son of the demon king' Piccolo, never caring for anyone but himself, and later Gohan, found his own love?  
  
And how had he died? Was it, in some way, to protect Oboe?  
  
And how was Oboe so young? She had hatched over five centuries ago! And here she stood, and Muuri could tell her true age- she wasn't even thirty yet. How was that possible? Had that second dream of hers, the one that had haunted her endlessly, come true? Could she, as a young child, have been attacked and frozen as in death, never dying, never growing older, just deadly paralyzed for eternity? But how had she escaped?  
  
Oboe finished telling their version of the story, and looked to Muuri for an answer, unknowing of the torrent of questions in his mind.  
  
He looked up at her, and said "Why do you lie to me, Oboe my child?"  
  
Her disguise fell as quick as her jaw, and noone could say a word. 


	21. Transperant

___Chapter 21___  
  
Oboe had not been expecting that from him. She could barely breathe she was so shocked. She didn't notice that she had lost her transformation, and was herself again.  
  
{{We planned everything so perfectly, how could it have gone this wrong?}} something kept screaming in the back of her head. Her eyes stung sharply, invisible tears fighting in them that never quite came out, so they only made her sapphire irises sparkle dangerously.  
  
He had seen right through her.  
  
Oboe's fists clenched into tight fists, and purple blood began to seep between her fingers as her claws punctured her palms. A half-grimace came over her face, and her body stood, stiff and unyielding. If she had to kill for the dragonballs, she would. She knew that, even though she didn't want to admit it.  
  
Muuri saw the internal torment on her face, and it hurt him. What had HAPPENED to her? "Please, do not be angered." He said softly as he placed a hand on her rock-hard shoulder, "I did not mean you distress, Oboe."  
  
She turned her head to look at him. He was truthful in every word. The hidden tears glistened in her eyes, but she shook her head, tiny sparkles coming from them as she did. Then she looked back at him, but glimpsed her hands first.  
  
Oboe cursed softly as a lace of pain threaded through her palms. Muuri took her hands in his and healed them. Oboe smiled half-heartedly in gratitude.  
  
"Now please, tell me what really happened down there on earth. Then perhaps I will be able to help you." he said shortly afterward. Oboe bit her lip as the ridges above her eyes drew together. She turned toward the others for approval and reassurance. Vegeta just shrugged his shoulders with a look on his face that said "Things have gotten screwed up enough around here- go for it". Gohan only nodded.  
  
Oboe had been trying to be firm, but when she began retelling the events, it made them seem all the more real, and when she got up to the part where Piccolo's lifeless body collapsed into her arms, she broke down and cried.  
  
Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to se Gohan, saying to her "It's alright. Just go on, Oboe. You heard what he said. Maybe he can help us get him back. Just tell him what happened." His words gave her courage, and she finished the story.  
  
Needless to say, Muuri was surprised by some of what she said, especially because he knew she was telling the truth. She saw the confusion on his face, and explained the circumstances of Lute's 'birth'.  
  
He took everything she said in, and replied "I must think this all over. You may stay here in the meantime."  
  
So Muuri left the main area of the building and went off to think what was to become of the three travelers, and the dragonballs.  
  
---  
  
Vegeta wasn't sure what to think. Gohan was looking around the room from his seat on the floor. Oboe was pacing, muttering hell-knows-what in namekian. He himself was leaning against a wall, trying to figure out the events of the day. The telling of the stories had taken a 1/2 hour at most, and they had been waiting around about that long, waiting for an answer.  
  
{{I'm getting impatient! Why can't that old man get back out here? We've been sitting in this sweltering heap of a building for an HOUR! If he doesn't hurry up... I'm not going to wait forever. Either he's out here in the next hour, or I'm gonna steal that dragonball.}} Vegeta thought to himself as he looked at the others.  
  
A sigh escapes the sayian's mouth as he slapped a hand over his face and muttered "Hope you're having a better time than I am , friend.  
  
---  
  
Piccolo was standing at the end of snake way. When he had first glimpsed the end, he had sped up and got there in less than a minute. Now he was waiting for Kami to catch up. "There it is, Kaio-sama's place. Never thought I'd ever come here again. *sigh* Never wanted to either. Wonder what's been going on down on Namek..." he said to himself as he looked around at the desolate plain surrounding him. Finally, his counterpart appeared in the distance.  
  
Kami talked aloud as he slowly walked to where his 'son' stood., waiting. "So impatient. It doesn't matter how fast we go, the wait will be just as long. Why use up your energy when it doesn't matter? He has to learn patience!"  
  
Piccolo heard him 'bitching' in the distance. He glanced irritably at Kami when the god reached him and yelled "You took long enough!"  
  
"It doesn't matter Piccolo. Don't waste your energy."  
  
"Aw, I didn't know you CARED." Piccolo remarked snidely, "Why does it matter how much I use? It's MY energy!"  
  
"CAN WE STOP FIGHTING AND GET GOING!!!!"  
  
"Ok! God! I thought you were suppose to be the calm one!"  
  
Kami sighed and replied "I think it would be best if we keep our distance after this. We seem to only get at each other's throats when together."  
  
"Alright." said Piccolo as he shot off toward the little green planet high in the sky.  
  
"I hope this doesn't turn into an all-out war." Kami whispered to himself as he shook his head. 


	22. Friends and rage

___Chapter 22___   
  
"Calm down, Chi-chi! I'm sure Gohan's fine!"   
  
"But he hasn't even called! And it's been a week!" she yelled back to her husband as she played with the videoscreen franticly, her fingers reaching out for any button that might offer her a connection to her baby.   
  
A screech sounded out abruptly, and Bulma raced into the control room at the sight of what was happening to HER 'baby'. "You're jamming up the computer!" she yelled as she pushed the black-haired woman away from the keyboard. "Let a professional take this! You want to contact Gohan, right?"   
  
"YES!!!!!"   
  
Watching from a distance stood three small figures , eyes reflecting black, onyx and blue in the shadow of the wall, voices quiet as they spoke together-   
  
"Wonder how he's doing." came the voice of the first as he scratched his head like his father always did while pondering.   
  
"You think he's been found out?" asked the blue's owner, who was 'fixing' his lavender hair out of the smoothed-over form it's been brushed into earlier   
  
The last one gave a sideways glance over to the younger ones adding sternly "No Trunks, you mean if he's showed himself yet."   
  
"Oh yeah, sorry *sweatdrops* "   
  
::chuckling::   
  
"Does anybody even know if he's gone yet?"   
  
"Hey Trunks, don't you believe in us better? The three of us kept my 'tousan and Krillan-san distracted when he was sneaking on, remember?"   
  
"Yeah Trunks, listen to Goten!"   
  
"Ok, ok, don't gang up on me guys! Just wondering."   
  
"*together* Ok."   
  
::silence::   
  
"Hey, Goten, remember when we first met him?"   
  
"Of course I do! How could I forget it? It wasn't that long ago...."   
  
"*sighs* Because I sorta forgot some of it."   
  
::both stare for a few seconds, facefault::   
  
"NANI? Comeon Trunks, you can't have just FORGOT! *sighs* Well, it went like this-"   
  
---   
  
After running away from Dende, Lute quickly became tired again, forcing himself to land in a particularly desolate area of the lookout, where he could be alone with his thoughts, and clambered atop a piece of the ruins, eyes taking in the barren landscape from his vantage point.   
  
He did not cry. His father never cried. And since his father was dead, it was up to him to take care of his mother. That's what his anoco would have told him, if he could... A noise caught his ears, and he swirled his head around to glimpse the interloper, a kid about his age with shaggy black hair sticking up all over, poised over the rock his boot had disturbed. It looked him in the eyes sheepishly, and said-   
  
"Hi. Sorry if I'm interrupting you or something. My name is Goten."   
  
Lute turned his head the smallest bit, that was all. For a second, he seemed as foreboding as his father had ever been, but he was not meant to be that serious, and so he sighed, looked at Goten, and replied "Hi. I'm Lute. Why are you here?"   
  
Goten walked up and plopped himself down on a nearby chunk of rock, saying as he pulled himself up "Well, you looked kind of lonely out here. Sad too. And I don't like it when people are sad, so.... I try and cheer them up." Finally he was up, and pulled his legs around him indian-style, grinning over brightly.   
  
Lute smiled a sad smile and muttered "Good luck." almost half-heartedly, letting himself be drawn into a conversation (Lute becoming more friendly as they went on) about the weather, Goten's best pal, trees, his shoes, and eventually to how he had gotten there in the first place,.   
  
Goten smiled after 1/2 an hour of sitting there, and laughed "So YOU'RE the one who saved my friend's life! He's been looking for you, you know, he wanted to see if there was any way he could help. And I bet Trunks would like to meet you too."   
  
Lute looked up, little jaw on the verge of dropping, and stuttered "Do you mean, bring them over here?" He had never been around so many people before, and suddenly being thrust among such a concentration had gotten him considerably unnerved earlier. Now, right after that was over, his new friend wanted to bring over more people. Goten looked at Lute expectantly, who sighed defeat. "Alright. I'll be waiting here."   
  
Goten grinned for the third time, told him he wouldn't regret it, and flew off to find his friends.   
  
~~~~~~~   
  
"Hey Trunks! Dende! I found that kid you were talking about, Dende!"   
  
The little namek, who was just about recovered from using almost all his energy for healing, jerked up, grinning. "You found Lute?!? Where is he? Is he ok? I mean, after what happened to his anoco and all...", eyes falling at the end.   
  
Trunks gave Dende a weird look, and qwerked out a "Huh? What's that mean?"   
  
"It's a namekian word, means 'father'."   
  
An 'oh' look passed Trunks face as Goten landed and announced "He's pretty depressed. But that's perfectly understandable. His mom and dad were the only people he knew up to a few hours ago. Now his dad's dead and his mom isn't speaking to anyone."   
  
Trunks nodded and answered "Wouldn't we feel pretty bad if we were in similar situations?"   
  
"I guess so." said Dende, "You have no idea how sad I felt when Saichro died. Both times." he murmured, a sniffle rising in his throat until Goten came over and patted him on the back comfortingly.   
  
"Yeah. My brother and your dad, Trunks, are both taking this pretty bad. They have other people who can try and help them feel better, though. Nobody can really help Lute now. The only person he really knows in the whole world is out of commission- she can't help anyone in the state she's in. Maybe we could go try to cheer him op or something. We were talking a minute ago and he seemed perfectly nice. Maybe we could all be friends or something." smiled Goten, looking up at his friends to see what they would say, a slight begging look to his eyes.   
  
Dende replied first- "I, for one, owe him my life. I say 'yes' to that."   
  
After another set of puppy eyes from his younger black-haired companion, Trunks also approved, and they followed Goten to go see Lute.   
  
~~~~~~~   
  
The emerald-eyed child was pretty nervous, that was obvious to the halfling as they neared him.   
  
"Hey, Lute! I'm back!" he called as he landed next to his new friend, smiling in reassurance.   
  
{{Ok. I've got to cool down. Don't want to look like an idiot in front of Goten's friends}} thought Lute to himself as he turned over to look at him. "So, where are they?"   
  
The other two came out, and were introduced. The four sat down together and talked all over the place for about an hour or more, they'd gotten so caught up in their conversation that they'd lost track of the time, too occupied with the new friendship that'd formed to think of clocks. Then Lute told them his plan to sneak onto the capsule. The kids wholly supported him, and were setting up diversion plans when they heard the adults call. They were going somewhere for the night.   
  
So they flew behind the aircar, in front of the fighters, and perfected their plans.   
  
---   
  
"Remember NOW, baka?"   
  
"Yeah, now I do! *smacks himself on the forehead* how could I forget?"   
  
"Because you're you." Dende and Goten chimed in simultaneously, laughing.   
  
---   
  
Noone was around it seemed. Piccolo was surprised at that. He had expected the kaioshin to be waiting or something- not wanted, but expected. Piccolo glanced over his shoulder, a comment ready to be shot to Kami, something that would piss him off- But the god was nowhere to be seen either.   
  
He turned around, puzzled, and asked himself a silent question, voicing it aloud- "What the heAAHH!!!" when halfway through his statement came the answer in the form of a furry shape that rushed up and tackled him to the ground.   
  
Piccolo cursed under his breath and assumed a fighting stance, eyes narrowing in an attempt to locate his attacker. Whatever it was currently was sitting on his head.   
  
The namek's arm shot up, caught the little renegade, eyes narrowed in seriousness, but then he realized who it was and laughed out loud before he could stop himself. "Bubbles!?! Great. I've been surprised by a monkey..."   
  
Pic shook his head, smirking as he pointed a finger in the ape's face and lectured "Don't think I don't remember you. And don't think you can do that again. *realizes what he's doing, stops abruptly and sighs* {{Great, I'm going senile....}} All we need is the cricket and we'll have both of Kai's stupid lackeys.", rolling his eyes.   
  
"Hey!!! Who are you calling stupid!!!" a high-pitched familiar whine sounded out. Piccolo dropped Bubbles (who ran 1/2 way to the other side of the planet before his little feet hit the ground) and casually shot his arm behind himself, catching Gregory before he could even think of shooting.   
  
"Remember you too." he sneered, and flicked the bug up into the sky without a second thought. Regaining his lost composure, he muttered "Now where is Kaio-sama? He invites us here and doesn't even show up? And where's Kami?" as he began to walk to the small house on the little planet.   
  
---   
  
The house was empty.   
  
And Piccolo's irritation level snapped past allowed boundaries-   
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!????" he screamed so loud that cracks appeared on the glass in Kaio's car.   
  
A hand clasped over his mouth before a string of curses could erupt, and Kami emerged from the shadows of the inside. The god glared at Piccolo as he said calmly "Maybe if you were not so impatient you would have seen the letter on the door. He says he's sorry he couldn't stay, he was called away on important business. We're on our own"   
  
Piccolo's eyes had nearly glazed over in rage by this point, and he jerked from the god's hold. His voice stuttered, posture uneven and ungainly as he growled "You... you asshole! DON'T TOUCH ME!!" and turned on his heel and raced out the door.   
  
The younger man put as much space as possible between the two of them, and slumped down by the base of a tree, his face buried in his hands as he shuddered in revulsion. "I swear, I'm gonna kill him. *glances out for a second from between fingers, eyes glistening* Oboe darling, you have to get me out of here right now. Damn I miss you." He opened his eyes, and leant his head against the trunk of the tree as he sighed out into the silent air around him..   
  
Kami merely shook his head, and whispered "No good will come of this. None at all."   
  
~~~NOTE- chapter 22, re-vamped on 10/20/01. Expect me to re-write more of acts one and two soon. ~~~


	23. Words

___Chapter 23___  
  
As Oboe was pacing, she thought about what was going on. She had been found out, and had so endangered their chances. Coming along in the first place was bad enough, but now... the whole thing was blown out of the water.  
  
{{I gave my word. Nothing can make me back down on it now.}} the voice in the back of her head whispered. "I know, I know." she mumbled aloud in namekian, sighing loudly as she cursed in her native tongue.  
  
Vegeta's eyes opened. It had been one hour since he had considered stealing the dragonball. And he intended to keep to what he had said. Vegeta pushed off the wall, and was just about to slam a ki blast into the door when it opened.  
  
"This is convenient...." Vegeta smirked, and he was about to walk through the door when he saw Muuri standing there. With the dragonball.  
  
"I have decided that you may have this. I am sorry to have kept you so long." he said as he handed the seven-star to a stunned Vegeta. Oboe stopped in her tracks, and smiled gently. Gohan grinned so feverishly it appeared as if his face would disappear behind his teeth. They were finally on their way.  
  
The three were about to leave when Muuri asked them to stop.  
  
"WHAT? What do you mean, stop?" growled Vegeta, suddenly suspicious.  
  
"I wish to ask you one more thing. Of Oboe."  
  
She turned around, confused.  
  
"Do you remember when you were young?" he said, quietly.  
  
"Yes.... why?"  
  
"Do not feel obligated to tell me, but... what happened to you? The last anyone ever saw of you was when Sanchiro decided to send Damaiou off to earth. There was never another trace of you. He thought that you had surely been killed like the rest of his children when the weather went bad. But now you're alive. And on earth."  
  
Oboe looked at him, not saying a word, sapphire eyes quietly sullen. Her one hand went to the back of her neck as her eyes half-closed "I do owe you an answer, don't I. And you," she said, looking at Gohan and Vegeta, "would probably like to hear about where I came from."  
  
Speaking to Muuri, she said "I've only ever told this to two people, Yen and Piccolo. But I believe that I can tell it again." Oboe sat down, and asked "But first, can someone get my son? He should hear this. And I want my ring. I feel strange without it. *rubs her right arm* "   
  
Gohan volunteered, and flew off to the ship.  
  
---  
  
Lute stretched slightly, and yawned as he woke up. He sat up a few seconds later, a silly smile on his young face as he laughed out "Now that's good stuff. A real bed again.... *grumbles* better that that box I've had as a pillow for the last week."  
  
He laughed aloud, somersaulted off the bed, and did fifty pushups before he realized what he was doing. His father had basically drilled him into a training routine, and the pushups once he woke up were part of it. Lute slapped himself in the head and said "Damnit dad, you've got me training subconsciously now." The little namek boy grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, and sat on the ledge beside the main port window as he watched the sunshine filter through the leaves of the little tree.  
  
"Wonder what Shina and Chan are doing?" he said to himself, "And Goten and Dendea and Trunks?"  
  
Then he smiled. The first of his questions was answered, as the two namekian boys landed in front of the ship. They saw him, and waved from outside the glass. Lute did the same, and ran to the door to let his friends in.  
  
"Hey! Hi Lute!" Chan said happily, a smile on his face.  
  
The three talked for a while, and were sitting under the tree, laughing at something Lute had said. And Lute (naturally) had no clue what was so funny. Gohan floated about a quarter mile above the three.  
  
The sayian boy smiled as he watched them. He hated to separate them, but remembered what Oboe had asked him, and sighed "Ah, hell." as he dropped to the ground.  
  
Lute's ears perked up as someone touched down about 20 feet away. Upon recognizing the person, he stood up and called out "Hey!! Gohan!!! What are you doing here? Did you get the dragonballs ALLREADY?"  
  
Shina and Chan looked up, confused. "Long story." Lute said quietly.  
  
"But what do you need the dragonballs for?" Shina spoke up.  
  
Lute closed his eyes, and looked away. "My dad." came the whisper as he walked over to Gohan. Gohan explained the situation.  
  
"Ok, I'll be coming in a second!" Lute said as he ran back to his friends.  
  
Chan and Shina were quiet. "How come you didn't tell us about... you know.."  
  
Lute said it straight out. "I don't really like to talk about it."  
  
They understood. Lute then said "I've gotta go. You two should probably go back home."  
  
"Why?"  
  
Lute smiled as he walked next to Gohan, and said "My mom wants me."  
  
The two could only look over in utter confusion. Lute laughed, and shouted "I'll explain when I see you tomorrow!" as he and Gohan leapt off into the sky, and disappeared over the horizon in a flurry of ki.  
  
---  
  
Oboe opened her eyes when Gohan and Lute entered. It was time. And she hoped she could do this.  
  
"Mom? Why aren't you transformed anymore?" Lute said, his little voice echoing through the silent chamber.  
  
"Long story, little one." she whispered as she picked up Lute, "And I have a longer one to tell you." Oboe glanced at the others, and added "You do understand this is going to take awhile, right?"  
  
"Of course!!" Vegeta barked out roughly, "But is this really my business? Why should Gohan and I be here?"  
  
Oboe put Lute down, slipped her ring on her right arm, and answered "You were his closest friends, right? By understanding me, you may come to understand him better, for our pasts are intertwined. Piccolo would want it that way. I guess I'll go up to where Yen and I first saw you guys. I might as well start now..." 


	24. Hatchlings, trees, and first meetings

  
------------------------------  
------------------------------  
------------ACT 2-------------  
------------------------------  
------------------------------  
  
  
___Chapter 24___  
  
Oboe was the first in her clutch to hatch, and the first thing she saw was Sanchiro. He was younger back then, and definitely smaller, with 5 less centuries of age and far less weight of sorrow on his shoulders.  
  
When he saw her, looking up in awe with her bright eyes sparkling, he chuckled slightly, walked over, and picked her up gently, cradling her in his arms, and said "My, little one. You're special."  
  
She just looked at him with her big sapphire eyes- she couldn't talk yet, of course.  
  
"You probably don't know it yet, but you're very special." He put her down and walked out of the room, returning shortly holding a small box. "These are very special also." he said as he took a pair of black hoop earrings out of the box. They were just the right size for her. Sanchiro spoke as he fitted them on her ears, saying "I made these long ago, when I was just a young child myself. They'll grow with you, and I'll teach you how to use them when you're older. Now to get you something to wear."  
  
She just watched, little head cocked to the side as he pointed his hand. Her antennae jumped up on her head and a little shock noise jumped from her mouth as white ki washed over her. Oboe shut her eyes tight, and when she looked, she was wearing a pink-purple little pair of pants and a purple little shirt.  
  
"How's that little one?" Sanchiro said, a smile on his face. Oboe smiled and nodded. She couldn't talk, but she could understand him. She only knew how to say her name, which he then asked her for.  
  
"Oboe" she replied happily. Sanchiro had to divert his attention from her when he went to tend to the other children, who were about to hatch. Oboe tottered after him to the other end of the room.  
  
She was curious about these funny-shaped things sitting there, and a little pout appeared on her face as she walked up to one. It was light pink in color, and as big as her when she stood up. Oboe crouched down, and poked it's hard surface.  
  
It moved a little. Oboe poked it again, and it shook more, a little crack appearing on the surface. She giggled, and started poking it with two fingers, then three. More cracks appeared, and Oboe stopped to laugh. But cracks kept appearing, even though she wasn't touching it. Oboe cocked her head to the side, a look of puzzlement twisting her features.  
  
Oboe sat back, and a little sigh came from her mouth as she shook her head. She shrieked at something hid her vision, and she threw the top of the eggshell off her face, and saw a pair of orange eyes looking inquisitively at her. After some thought, she decided it wasn't dangerous, and helped pull the rest of the shell away.  
  
It smiled happily at her, and Oboe smiled back. Then Sanchiro stepped in, ending the fun for a second. But the child was back in a few seconds, wearing a blue gi with a vest-type long-sleeved shirt. He smiled down at himself, and squeaked out "Palidor" when asked for his name.  
  
The other children hatched shortly afterward, but Oboe and Palidor stayed to the side and played around. Sanchiro smiled, seeing how tightly the two had bonded already.  
  
He let them play amongst themselves, but then Sanchiro rounded them all up, and took them so see a friend of his.  
  
---  
  
One other group of children had hatched that day. So the children were taken there, to where an elder named Katass lived. Katass was the person who took care of all the children, and the young ones lived there while under his care. Sanchiro would have raised the children himself, but between his duties and the all-too-likely possibility that one of the children could fall from the tower, he could not.  
  
Sanchiro landed, and let his children on the ground as he went to speak to Katass. Oboe and Palidor looked around at their new surroundings, glanced at each other, smiled, and started running wildly forward, as if in a race to the huge old tree, which was about 20 feet away. Oboe easily overtook her brother, running like lightning.  
  
Upon realizing just how fast she was, she turned around and ran backwards, taunting Palidor with her laughter. He stopped dead, and cried out, pointing behind her. Oboe thought he was giving up, and was just about to let out a victory cry when she slammed straight into another child.  
  
---  
  
The impact knocked the air out of her lungs, and she collapsed face-first on the ground. Before she could blink though, she was jerked up by the back of her shirt, and two fierce onyx eyes glared into hers angrily. She was caught aback by that, as noone had ever been angry at her before.  
  
A frightful tear stroked down her cheek, and she quivered in fear. The dark eyes hardened, then softened at her tears, and the boy sat Oboe back down on the ground. He glanced at her once, and then turned his back and sat back down by the tree, crossing his legs and closing his eyes.  
  
Oboe, more befuddled than ever before in her young life, stared at the boy in the purple gi and black vest, absolutely intrigued. Palidor walked next to her, an 'I told you so!' look on his face. Oboe just continued to stare confused at the boy sitting at the foot of the ancient tree.  
  
The siblings ears perked up when they heard an unfamiliar laugh, and saw a tall, thin adult namekian in a white/black gi next to Sanchiro.  
  
"So this is Oboe?" Katass said, laughing warmly when she broke out of her 'trance' and her antennae shot up at the mention of her name, a little shock expression on her tiny face.  
  
Katass snapped his head toward the boy by the tree and said "Damaiou, get up."  
  
The boy in the purple gi did as told, and Katass smiled at him. Katass turned to Sanchiro, and said "This is my eldest son, Damaiou. He's a couple minutes younger that Oboe, but lives up to the name of the dragon clan." Katass smiled, and said "He's even started meditating, on his own. He just saw me and did the same." The elder's voice was calm, but the look on his face, and the way the light gleamed in his eyes showed how proud he was.  
  
Oboe blinked, and opened her mouth. "Da...maiou." she said, her eyes watching as he turned his face toward her, a hint of confusion showing. She saw the look, and giggled.  
  
"She certainly is a happy child." Katass said, eyes opening a bit more.  
  
"Yes, and Damaiou is such a serious one." Sanchiro said, "I think they'll all be fine together, knowing you'll be watching them." he ended with, looking up at Katass. The younger elder smiled.  
  
Sanchiro stayed an hour or more so, and then left. 


	25. Spy

___Chapter 25___  
  
The first to hatch was generally the quickest learner (it worked in reverse too), and so it was with the twelve under Katass. Noone except the adults noticed or cared that Oboe was any different. The only differences the children noticed were the positive things- like how fast she was, or her optimistic manner.   
  
Time passed, and it was nine (namekian) years later. Sanchiro would visit whenever he had the chance. All the children had gotten better at everything they tried, and Oboe has been taught to use her earrings (and warned that there would be severe punishment if she used them to play pranks). But of all the children, the two eldest were pushed harder, for Katass knew the kind of abilities they had inside. The twelve had started talking after a year or so. The language was inborn into them, so it was only a matter of time before they tapped into that knowledge and used it.  
  
Oboe glanced around, making sure noone was watching, before she ran off from the main field, and into an area not too far off, surrounded by rock.  
  
"YES!!!" a voice shrieked victoriously, "You're LATE for once!" Palidor laughed, a big smile on his face.  
  
"Aw, stopit!" Oboe said, a mock pout on her face as she walked past her brother to the tree, where another form sat in absolute silence.  
  
Oboe giggled, knelt down, and shook his shoulder, saying "Damaiou, wake up!!"  
  
His eyes twitched, and snapped open. Oboe laughed out, saying "You're ALWAYS first aren't you? And you're always meditating when I get here! Why?"  
  
Damaiou smirked, saying "Yes. Why are you always so perky?"  
  
"Because."  
  
"Well, that's my answer then!" he said, his hands on his hips as a triumphant little half-smile crossed his mouth.  
  
Oboe slapped her face, shaking her head. "Ok, you won that round." she walked off a few feet and lie on her back amid the flowers, giggling as the grass tickled her nose.  
  
"So, what are we doing today?" Palidor asked from his favorite perch on the tree.  
  
Damaiou shook his head.  
  
"So, it's the usual- goof off." Palidor said, a smirk lighting up his face as he swung down, holding onto the branch with his hands before doing a flip to the ground. (note- this is an actual tree, with a real trunk and branches and leaves and such, not one of those craptacular green-ball-on-a-stick things you usually see on Namek. All the other trees are the same. This one's just special //_^ )  
  
Oboe laughed, but sat up suddenly as she got an idea. "Hey, Palidor!! How about you spy on Katass and anoco?"  
  
Palidor smiled slyly, and saluted. The other two couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Ready for duty, 'mam!" he said giddily as he leapt over the rocks with ease, running the fifty feet or so to where the adults were.  
  
---  
  
Damaiou shook his head, laughing as he said "You two are hell on wheels when you're together!"  
  
Oboe shot him a 'guilty as charged!' smile, and was about to speak when her ears perked up. "INTERUDER!!!!" she called out at the top of her voice as she raced toward a crack between some of the rocks, which someone was crawling through.  
  
"Ifrite! What's the password?" she said, hands on her hips as Damaiou's youngest brother's face flushed purple.  
  
"Was I... that obvious?" he said, stuttering as he poked his fingers together.  
  
Damaiou pushed away from the tree, walked up to Ifrite, and said "You know this is OUR fort. There's no reason for you to come here."  
  
"Well.... I felt like it."  
  
"Well, maybe we don't."  
  
"That's mean."  
  
Oboe sneered, and shoved her face in his, saying "What was MEAN was when YOU tripped Palidor because he was beating you in the race a couple weeks ago! You broke his nose, baka!! Now, GET OUT OF HERE!!!" She finished by flashing her claws in his face, and Ifrite raced off with a shriek.  
  
Oboe crossed her arms and made a "humph!" noise as she jumped up to the top of the tree. Damaiou stared for a second, and started laughing.  
  
---  
  
Palidor reached the building Katass lived in with ease, and crawled to a spot under one of the windows. Sanchiro and Katass continued speaking, not knowing they had a 'spy'.  
  
"He is an extremely intelligent child. I don't hesitate to think he may be the one top take my place when my time is done." Sanchiro said, "He and Oboe seem to be of the same intelligence."  
  
Katass nodded, and answered "I'm going to begin instructing him today. He could become one of the greatest leaders our people have ever had." Then Katass' voice fell lower, and said more quietly "But it disturbs he how much of an interest he shows in fighting."  
  
"That was your specialty, Katass."  
  
"I know. It WAS. Not any more. Not since I almost killed one of my friends in a spar."  
  
The room fell silent. Palidor had to fight hard to remain that way.  
  
"I don't want his intelligence wasted, or anyone to be harmed."  
  
Sanchiro waited till Katass finished, and then said "It's easy to see what most of the other children will do, with the exception of my two eldest."  
  
"Palidor? Come-on, you know he's going to be perfect for helping me with the children someday. Almost all the younger children look up to him in awe. Whether it's his personality, or just those screwed-up eyes of his, I don't know." Katass said, laughing.  
  
Palidor stifled a laugh, and settled with a grin.  
  
"Very true." came the reply, "But then we come to Oboe. I'm not sure quite what to do with her. According to the legend, her path and decisions will be her own."  
  
"*sighs* that's one story I never believed in. I didn't even understand it until I saw her. Then it made sense. Everything it has said so far is true. Except there's been no sign of the..."  
  
"Future telling dreams." Sanchiro said, finishing the sentence for him.  
  
Emotionlessly, Katass then stated "But the legend says the prophecies she has will be of bad things to come."  
  
"If so, you cannot blame the child for what she may see. It's not her fault." His eyes went a bit harder, and he continued with "The way you say it makes me think you will hold her responsible for the acts her visions will be of."  
  
"I would NEVER accuse her of anything. That girl's soul is as pure a one as I have ever seen."  
  
Palidor had heard enough. He crawled a sufficient distance off, and flew at top speed away.  
  
He had left a bit too soon to hear the rest of Katass' statement.  
  
"I only.... don't like the idea that the visions will be of things irreversible." 


	26. Liar

___Chapter 26___  
  
"Can you say that again, Palidor? I don't understand." Oboe stuttered after her brother went through what he had heard.  
  
"I always could sense that you were special, but telling the future?" Damaiou said with his arms crossed, shooting a hypocritical look Palidor's way as he said "Are you making this up for kicks?"  
  
"I believe him! Why would my brother lie? Are you saying he's a liar, Damaiou?!?!" Oboe snapped. Palidor was more precious to her than anything in the world, and she would defend him, even against her best friend.  
  
Damaiou shot a quick, hard stare and replied "I'm not saying he's a liar! I just can't believe what he's saying!"  
  
The two got into a heated argument. Oboe's anger was rising to new levels, and she didn't notice when her head started to hurt. She suddenly stopped when the pain became overbearing.  
  
"...Oboe? What's wrong?" asked Damaiou with a slight tinge of fear in his voice. His friend was crouched over, holding her head and crying. Then she collapsed.  
  
"OBOE!" he yelled as he raced over. She was out cold.  
  
Sanchiro and Katass heard plainly when Damaiou screamed Oboe's name. They raced out of the building they had been in and were about to start running when Palidor landed in front of them.  
  
"Something happened to Oboe! I heard what you were saying about how Oboe might have powers to tell the future and then I told her and Damaiou and then they started fighting and got all mad at each other and Oboe grabbed her head and started crying like she was hurt and fainted!" Palidor's words came out all jumbled together, his voice nervous and skittish, but enough of his words came through to give the elders a basic idea of what had happened.  
  
"Where is she?" Katass said, voice firm.  
  
"Follow me!" Palidor shrieked as he jumped up and into the air.  
  
---  
  
When they got there, Damaiou didn't even glance up. He just continued to kneel beside her, holding her head up with his one hand, her hand in his right. The only movement coming from her tiny body was a bit of frantic shivering every few seconds.  
  
Katass said his name firmly, but Damaiou didn't budge. Katass had to call out "DAMAIOU..." again before the boy looked up. "Come here."  
  
Damaiou did as told. Sanchiro walked toward his daughter, and took her limp form into his arms.  
  
"Is she gonna be ok?" Damaiou whispered, eyes very near tears.  
  
"I'm not sure."  
  
---  
  
By now, the other children had arrived, and since noone was talking, they were left to assume whatever. Some of them thought she was dead. When someone, Oboe's youngest brother Ragnoroc, sad that, something inside Damaiou's head snapped.  
  
His head turned toward the boy, and his onyx pupils dilated. Damaiou stared at him with utter... he wasn't sure what it was, but the feeling so overwhelmed him that he couldn't think straight.  
  
He stared at Ragnoroc, and as he screamed out "She's NOT DEAD!!!", he leapt forward and sliced a gash down the younger child's face, and blasted off in a fury of energy.  
  
And noone could say a word.  
  
---  
  
The landscape was a barren place- devoid of any life at all. It was the only true desert on Nameksei, and lightning raced about it, while dark clouds blotted out the sky. A single cliff overlooked it, and upon that rock ledge Damaiou sat, staring at his claws.  
  
He did not understand why he had done something so horrible. Something inside of him had just.. snapped, and it had broken loose.  
  
Damaiou glanced the dried blood on his hand, and shuddered. Ragnoroc would be wearing a scar for the rest of his life, probably. And what would Oboe think of him, attacking her little brother?  
  
{{At least it wasn't Palidor.}} he said to himself. Oboe would hate him forever if he did that. And Damaiou didn't want Oboe to hate him- she was his friend.  
  
"Why did I do that?" he whispered into the wind, "What is this... feeling inside of me?". Only silence returned, and the roar of thunder.  
  
Then footsteps came to his ears, and he turned to see Sanchiro saying "It is hatred, Damaiou. That feeling is hatred. We all have evil sides, but yours seems exceptionally strong."  
  
Damaiou nearly fell off the cliff at that point. "WHAT? Evil? I'm...."  
  
The elder cut him off before he could finish. "No. You are not evil, Damaiou. You merely have evil inside of you. It was wrong what you did to Ragnoroc, but not fully your fault."  
  
The young Namekian lowered his head, ashamed, and was about to speak again when he saw someone behind Sanchiro. "Huh? who's that? PLEASE don't tell me it's Ragnoroc." He stood up, walked over to the other person, and saw... "Oboe! You're ok!"  
  
She smiled shakily, her right hand clenched tightly into her father's robes as she nodded her head, saying "Y.. yeah. Kind of."  
  
"What do you mean by that?" he questioned. Oboe cringed slightly.  
  
"...I had... this dream. About our planet. I'm somewhere above it, you're there too. And- there's something wrong with Nameksei. I could just feel a... a darkness, sweeping over the planet. And whenever it passes over one of our people they.... die. It was horrible."  
  
Damaiou was shocked by her words. Maybe.. maybe Palidor was telling the truth. And if he had told the truth, and that was a prophesy she had just told him about...  
  
He looked at Sanchiro, eyes wide. The elder only nodded solemnly, his expression telling Damaiou he would explain later.  
  
---  
  
"So that's how it is? You mean Nameksei is going to be destroyed!?!" cried Damaiou when Sanchiro seemingly affirmed his fears.  
  
"Damaiou, please do not be alarmed. This could happen in hundreds of thousands of years for all we know." he said, trying to calm the boy. Oboe had left to go back to Katass and the other children on her own, and these two were off someplace where they could avoid the storm and speak without interruption.  
  
"But she said I was there too! That means that my friends and everyone should still be alive! And Oboe said only she and I were there!" Damaiou was getting progressively frantic, his words coming faster with each second.  
  
"No. She said she knew you were there. That doesn't mean the others are not safe."  
  
"But someone has to be left on Nameksei if she knows people are getting killed by that darkness! And what are the odds it isn't one of the other kids, or you, or Katass, or..."  
  
"DAMAIOU! STOP IT!!"  
  
".. Sorry sir. "  
  
Sanchiro's eyes fell closed, and he said "You should not be apologizing. You are only a child. I am the eldest. I should know better than to yell at a child who is frightened and cannot think straight." he sighed, and looked at him.  
  
"It's ok, sir. I understand why you acted as you did." Damaiou said, straightening his posture. Damaiou glanced back at his feet, and said "I just hope she's not angry now. Before, she was probably thinking about her dream. But now it's been a while, and when she sees what I did to her little brother...I don't want her to hate me. She's my friend. And.. I don't know what else to say. No words I know can describe this feeling."  
  
Sanchiro smiled at what he young boy was saying, and replied "You'll understand when you're older. So will she. You should go back with the other children now. I will remain here for a while."  
  
{{What does he mean I'll understand when I'm older? I guess I'll figure out on my own. Katass would probably say the same thing. Now I've gotta apologize to Oboe.}} Damaiou thought to himself as he blasted off to find her.  
  
---  
  
Oboe had not heard about Ragnoroc. But when she saw him, all thoughts of her dream were dropped. He was crying, sobbing, his hands over his torn face. Some coaxing got him to look up, and Oboe felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.  
  
He was lucky he had not lost an eye. Five deep, hideous gashes ran down from just beside his right eye, across his face, and ending off his left cheekbone. And it was still bleeding. The bright purple streaks were only dimmed by the smears caused by his tears and little hands.  
  
"What..." Oboe growled as she looked over the crowd- comprising of Katass, the children, and even some warriors who had heard the commotion, "SHARUKUS, did this to my brother?"  
  
One of the warriors let a grim half-smile creep onto his face. That girl had a fire in her eyes....  
  
Katass was less that pleased. "Oboe! You are NOT to use such language!" he yelled, but she didn't bother to look at him. She was looking at the other children.  
  
Ifrite, Odin, Maudin, Ramuth, Palidor, Bismark, Teracotto, Tritoch, Bahumut, one of them had to know what had happened.  
  
Palidor took a step forward, head down.  
  
She glared at him, angry. Whoever had scarred her little brother would pay. Dearly. "Who hurt him, Palidor?!?"  
  
He looked up, eyes wet, and stuttered/whispered "It... it was Damaiou. Damaiou attacked Ragnoroc."  
  
The anger left her eyes, and disbelief and denial filled them. Oboe's eyes flew wide, her bold stance slackening, and her clenched hands collapsed open, her whole body going limp.  
  
"no..." she mumbled. Her mind tried to deny it, but Palidor would never lie to her about something like this.  
  
"No." came from her lips, louder, as she staggered back, eyes threatening to well up. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Then more came. He wouldn't lie...  
  
"NO!!!!!!" she screamed, and lost her balance as her foot caught on a rock. She tore to the sky, her mind screaming as she flew rapidly away, as if trying to outrace the pain. In a few seconds she disappeared from sight.  
  
Palidor couldn't bear to raise his head. He just collapsed into a sitting position, face hidden from view.  
  
"I hope" he cried to himself, "I haven't just done something terrible." 


	27. Poison

___Chapter 27___  
  
A gentle rain, all that was left of the storm, was falling slowly and quietly when her eyes slid open. Her mind was filled with another one of her dreams.  
  
In it, she had been walking through a strange place. She was alone and freezing, deep in the middle of some alien forest far from her home. Exhausted from walking for hours, and dying of thirst for she dare not drink anything in this place where trees hid the sky, she fell to the ground, unable to take another step. But the place she had chosen was not a good one.  
  
A creature she had never seen the likes of in her life was coiled in front of her. It looked like a tail with a head, no arms or legs, and it's eyes scared her. She couldn't move, for her energy was gone, and the tail creature's gaze seemed to be hypnotizing.  
  
Then it struck forward, and dug it's fangs (which she had not seen before), into her arm. Oboe screamed with whatever breath was in her lungs when she felt something enter her bloodstream.  
  
The poison flowed through her, and the pain was horrible. Her systems could not handle the alien assault inside her body, and went into total lockdown. She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't even cry.  
  
Oboe should have died right then and there, but by some twist of fate, she did not. Her body just froze. Every process in her body stopped dead in it's tracks. But her eyes still could see. The creature slithered away, leaving Oboe staring ahead, silence filling the world. It was at that point she had woken up.  
  
"Wha... who woke me up? And when did I fall asleep?" Oboe wondered aloud, her voice wavering as she sat up and looked around. There was someone behind her. Damaiou.  
  
Oboe smiled aloud "Damaiou, they said that you attacked my brother. I don't believe them though. Palidor must have mistaken someone else for you."  
  
"Oboe..." he whispered, but she didn't hear him.  
  
"So, do you know who did it? Because I swear, whoever did that to him is going to get hell from me!!"  
  
"Oboe..." he said again, irritably, trying to get her to stop, the guilt was getting unbearable. but she continued, oblivious to the torment in his mind.  
  
"I always trust you to get the facts straight. So you can tell..."  
  
"Oboe! stop-"  
  
"...me who hurt my brother? And why do you keep trying to stop me?" Her eyes were so innocent, trusting, he felt guilty just looking at her. And she still went on. The next words out of her mouth broke his heart.  
  
"I can't believe Palidor said you hurt my brother. He went as far as to say you attacked him! But I know you would never, ever do that. Only an evil person would. Ragnoroc is so friendly and nice to everyone. He might not quite understand things sometimes, but that's nothing to yell about. Whoever did that, I'm soo gonna kick their ass. I like you alot, and I know you'd never hurt me like that. That person has to be the most..."  
  
"Oboe!!! Please stop! There's something I have to tell yo-"  
  
"..horrible bitch who ever lived, and they should die a..."  
  
"GOD DAMN IT, OBOE!!! Shut the HELL up!" Damaiou cursed/screamed, unable to hold out and listen to her anymore. He grabber her by the shoulders and yelled "Oboe, please! You're killing me with all this! I WAS the one who attacked Ragnoroc! I DID IT! Just stop talking to me! I can't take it anymore!'  
  
Then Damaiou's arms collapsed to his sides, his head bent so his face was out of view, and he turned his back to her, and said in a near-whisper "Go ahead. Scream at me. Take back everything nice you've ever said about me. Just please, stop trusting in me so much. Sanchiro said I have alot of evil in me. More than a normal person should. And I guess that's coming out now. So you might as well tell me now that you hate me. I don't know why I hurt Ragnoroc. When.."  
  
His voice cracked for a second, but he swallowed it, and continued "When Sanchiro was holding you, and you weren't moving at all, I was scared that you were dead. I.. I like you too Oboe, and I really didn't want to loose you. And when the kids ran over, Ragnoroc said you were dead, and all the fear, all the... the hatred, just escaped from me. And I attacked him. So hate me. But for the love of god, stop praising me!"  
  
Damaiou's eyes welled up with tears, but he did not cry. Any gentleness the rain had held was gone, now it only stripped the warmth from his body and made him shiver. The rain wasn't the only thing making him shake, though.  
  
Oboe sighed, eyes dim, and looked at her friend, one arm wrapped around herself. "Damaiou, I don't hate you. It's OK. I can tell you didn't mean it. Now look at me. We're friends, and friends make up when they have problems. Ragnoroc's gonna be alright- Katass is taking care of him. Maybe he'll even loose that scar someday. Bur we can heal this wound in our friendship much more easily. Just turn around, shake my hand, and then follow me back to see Sanchiro. I have another one of my dreams to tell him about." She reached out her hand expectantly, a gentle smile on her face.  
  
Damaiou's eyes flew open, and he jerked his head toward her. Not believing he had been given a second chance. Damaiou smiled, and gave her his hand. And the two flew off to where the children and Katass were.  
  
---  
  
Quite a stir was created when the two children landed, not too long after Oboe had flown off in tears. Now she was smiling, and standing next to Damaiou, holding his hand. He wasn't exactly smiling (he never really did) but his face showed happiness.  
  
When asked what had happened, Oboe only quipped "We've come to an understanding."  
  
Katass just blinked once or twice, shrugged his shoulders, and said "Well, I've got to get back to work."  
  
Oboe nodded, but then her ears perked up. Something was missing.. "Katass-san, where's Palidor?"  
  
Katass stopped walking, and pointed at the tree. "Thanks!" Oboe yelled as she took off on her feet in that direction.   
  
"Wait for me!" Damaiou yelled as he raced off after her.  
  
---  
  
Oboe gazed up the tree, and the sense of awe she always got while looking at overcame her, but she pressed it down. She was busy trying to see if Palidor was in his usual spot. The sound of sniffling from his favorite branch told her yes.  
  
She didn't want to spook him, so she flew up slowly. She landed behind him on the limb, and looked at him for a second.  
  
He had his knees drawn up in front of his face, with his arms pulled around his knees, and his chin pressed against his chest. His longer antenna was sticking out below his arm, the shorter one plastered to his face, and his vest fluttered behind him slightly as he choked out little sobs.  
  
Oboe's eyes narrowed slightly, and she crawled forward until she was right behind him. Then she put a hand on his head and said "It's ok Palidor. Everyone's fine."  
  
His head jerked up, and he stared at her in shock, his orange eyes still glistening with the now-ended tears.  
  
Oboe giggled, and laughed out loud when he shouted out her name and hugged her tight. Oboe returned it, and smiled upon seeing him feeling better.  
  
Damaiou just stood at the base of the tree until Oboe made a 'come here' motion with her hand. Then he pushed himself into the air and hovered next to the two.  
  
When Palidor saw Damaiou, his pupils dilated quickly, and he glanced at Oboe quickly, trying to see what was going on.  
  
"I said everyone's alright now. That means him too." Oboe said.  
  
Palidor nodded, and jumped to the ground with the other two. "Damaiou, what happened back there?" he said, still a bit confused.  
  
"I.. don't really know. But I didn't hurt him on purpose. I was just upset, and lost control.. or something." Damaiou stated, his eye ridges drawn together.  
  
Palidor shrugged his shoulders, and said "Well, good to see you back pal."  
  
---  
  
When Sanchiro appeared, Oboe asked him to talk in private. Then she told him about her dream.  
  
Sanchiro nodded, and affirmed her that it was indeed what she thought. He looked at her, and said "But if you wished to tell me in private, why did you bring Damaiou along?"  
  
Damaiou, standing next to Oboe, looked up. "Because he's my friend."  
  
"I understand." Sanchiro smiled. {{In more ways than you'll ever be able to comprehend, young ones.}} he said silently in his mind.  
  
All three turned upon seeing someone land nearby. It was the three warriors from before. The first warrior, who wore a sleeveless black vest, a white collar around his neck, and white pants stepped forward and said "Sanchiro-sama, we've already spoken to Katass-san, and have been meaning to speak to you of these two children. They show extraordinary power, and.."  
  
"You wanted to know if they are aloud to train with the fighters. You would have to ask them about that." Sanchiro said, knowing where the conversation was going.  
  
Damaiou and Oboe went absolutely blank. Them, warriors!?! It was hard to believe.  
  
"Well, I guess I'd be ok with that. Damaiou?" she answered, glancing toward the one in question at the end of her statement.  
  
"Where you go, I go. Of course I'll come." he replied with confidence.  
  
The third warrior, who wore a short white vest and red pants ending around his knees eyed him and said "You understand that it won't be simple. We don't lead an easy life, boy."  
  
Damaiou smiled coolly and said back "You just watch. We can take it."  
  
The warriors looked at each other and smiled. It was going to be interesting to have someone new in camp. There were currently only eight fighters. It was rare that any of the namekians could leave their peaceful ways and learn to fight. Now there would be ten of them, and the one who trained them all. Of course, their teacher was not a namek. He had gotten stranded here 15 years ago and, with permission, picked eight youths with potential to become fighters.  
  
Now it time to watch someone else learn the hard way what it meant to be trained by Ratal. 


	28. Lights

___Chapter 28___  
  
The five arrived at their destination, a barren lain of grass. It was the biggest landmass on Nameksei, and also held the distinction of being the flattest. Except for some gullies and hills to the East, it was all a sea of grass.   
  
Not all, actually. One small namekian-style building sat in the Western end of the field. Oboe stared at it for a while, trying to figure out why the grass for a large circular radius around the structure was shorter, but she got distracted upon seeing five streaks of light ricocheting around in the field, one ivory white, one icy blue, one golden orange, one moss green, one stone gray.  
  
The lights flew and spiraled and careened and slammed against one another, at so amazing a speed that Oboe had never seen the likes of before in her life. Oboe glanced openmouthed at Damaiou, who was equally speechless.  
  
The warrior in white took one look at the children, and upon seeing what they were staring at, he nearly choked. "Hey Bolt- look at these two! They're going bug eyed!" he yelled to the warrior next to him, who was dressed in a deep magenta/black with yellow stripes across it.  
  
The warrior in red shook his head as his two companions nearly lost concentration and plummeted to the ground because they were laughing so hard.  
  
The five lights below stopped suddenly. Oboe stared blankly upon seeing that they hadn't been lights- they were NAMEKS. The one who'd had the green energy called up "Hey!! Swift, Bolt, Rager!! Where 'ya been? You left two hours ago!"  
  
Swift (the one wearing white) stopped laughing and yelled back "Cool it Zite! We've found some possible new recruits, gonna see what Ratal thinks of them!"  
  
Rager (red) jumped swiftly to the ground, followed by Swift. Bolt (black) shook the 'kids' out of their trance and said "Come-on you two!" as he flew down. Damaiou and Oboe followed quickly.  
  
---  
  
"Hey" Rager said, looking at the two, "You want to be introduced, right?"   
  
"Yeah." answered Damaiou, looking up.  
  
Swift smiled, and glanced at the five, saying "Well, line up or something!" They obliged, and Swift continued "Well, you already know our names, so I'll introduce you to the guys."  
  
He pointed at the first, who wore the general gi in a shade of yellow. His eyes were as vibrant blue as Oboe's, and he wore a chain of sinew with a claw of some sort hanging from it around his neck. "This is my big brother, Comet. He's the one you saw with the orange/gold chi aura. *smiles* He likes to remind us constantly about how he's superior in ki-enhanced physical fighting." Comet smiled at the kids, and Swift continued down the line.  
  
The second warrior was a good foot and a half shorted than Comet. Oboe recognized him as the one with the green aura who'd spoken earlier- Zite. He was dressed in a moss green neck ruff, light brown shirt, and emerald green pants. "That's Zite. He's an all-round fighter, but likes to work with the plants + such."  
  
"That's because they're the only things he doesn't have to look up to!" chortled the third namek.  
  
Zite's brown eyes glared at him, and he yelled "Ah, shutup Tern! EVERYBODY has to look up to you, you're a foot taller than the rest of us!"  
  
Tern smiled, ruffled Zite's antenna, and said "Hey little man, calm down. I'm just messing with you." Zite's face regained it's normal hue, and Swift pointed to Tern.  
  
Tern wore a sleeveless white gi, his black vest covering only his arms, and his pants were a mix of black and white fabric. But Oboe didn't catch Swift's words when she saw Tern's face. Both his eyes were blank white.  
  
"You're...... blind?" she said softly, looking at him.  
  
Tern's face turned toward her, and he said "Yes I am."  
  
"How can you fight if you can't see?" her voice said, befuddled.  
  
Tern smiled. "Oh, I can see alright. Just not the way you can." He tapped his face beside his eye, and said "When I was blinded, Rager swore to stand by me. He taught me through a long, grueling year to see in a different way- now I can form a pretty good image of anything around me with my ability to sense ki."  
  
Oboe looked over at Rager, who was silent. "Rager definitely lives up to his name- you don't want to get him angry- but the guy's the best friend you could ever have." Tern said, smiling.  
  
Swift pointed to the next warrior, who was very obviously the one who'd has the blue aura. His skin was a bit lighter than the others, and his ice-blue eyes shined softly against his midnight-blue gi and white cape. "Frost here is the sanest one. He's the ultimate master of disappearing into thin air and appearing out of nowhere just in time to kick your ass. Not one of us so far has been able to break his eternal calm in all the years we've known him."  
  
"I don't think it's possible to piss him off." said the last warrior.  
  
"But you'll keep trying, right Arcos?" said Bolt.  
  
"Certainly!" he replied, smiling. He tried to push Frost over, but Frost merely sidestepped him, and Arcos fell flat on his face.  
  
"That's the spirit, little brother!" Comet and Swift said at once, cackling.  
  
Oboe smiled as she looked over to Arcos, who was lying on the ground laughing his ass off. His turban had fallen over his bright green eyes, and his white neck ruff was all jumbled. Arcos stood up when Swift said his name, and brushed off his baggy gray pants as Swift stated "And here we've got my little brother, Arcos. He's an utter smartass, and will say anything to distract his opponent, but his speed speaks for itself." Arcos adjusted his turban and smiled.  
  
Oboe nodded to each of them, but Damaiou, still perplexed, said "Just a minute ago, you said something about someone named Ratal, Swift. Where is he? Is he here right now?"  
  
Zite smiled at him and laughed "Oh he's here alright. And he could be standing right in front of you and you wouldn't see him unless he wanted you to."  
  
"What do you mean?" yelled Damaiou, suddenly on the defensive, "You think I'm blind or something?"  
  
A razored glare from Rager dark silver irises made him shutup, but Damaiou continued a few seconds later, more careful with his choice of words "I CAN read power levels."  
  
Bolt gave a low whistle as Tern said "That's a bit of a high claim. How do you do it- with technology, or skill?"  
  
"I do it on my own. It's not always there, but I can turn it on or off when I like."  
  
"Well, then we've got a little test for you." Frost said in his simple whispery tone that caught your attention and kept it, "Tell me which one of us is the strongest. We already know, so you better not be lying about having that ability."  
  
Damaiou smirked, saying "That's easy!", and closed his eyes. He activated his sense, and as he opened his eyes he could easily tell that Swift was the strongest of the eight of them.  
  
But, the odd thing was, he could sense a ninth power. It wasn't Oboe, it was way too strong to be her. And.. it wasn't namekian. It was a strange alien power that glowed azure in his mind's eye, of an intensity he had never felt before.  
  
"So, who's the strongest?" Arcos smirked.  
  
Damaiou shakily pointed to the space between Tern and Frost, and yelled "Whoever the hell that is!"  
  
There was silence for a second, but then a voice came out of nowhere and said "So he can sense power. That's an excellent attribute, and he hasn't even had any informal training."  
  
Oboe jumped when she heard the voice and saw nothing. But when she strained her eyes and peered closely where Damaiou had pointed, she could see a faint disturbance in the air. Her eyesight had always been amazingly acute, but even so she could only see partially the shape's outline.  
  
Then the voice came again, and Oboe noticed the air move on the head or whatever, and it said "What about you, girl? Can you sense power?"  
  
"No, but I think I can see you."  
  
"See me?"  
  
"I've always had good vision."  
  
"Define what you mean by that."  
  
"Well, I usually see people coming for about a minute before anyone else can."  
  
There was silence again, and Oboe noticed Damaiou's eyes bugging at her in shock out of the corner of her vision before the voice came again "We can test that more accurately later. But I am not sure if that is possible if that is possible. Not even these students of mine can see me when I am cloaked."  
  
The air where Oboe was staring began to shimmer suddenly, and the glimering faded swiftly as a form appeared. 


	29. Future

___Chapter 29___  
  
Awe.  
  
The two stared in absolute awe at the being standing in what once had seemed empty air. He was a foot and a half taller than Tern, who's height had been amazing enough on it's own. And this warrior was definitely not a namekian. His skin was a pebbled faded gold, his thin yet muscular arms ending in rather talon-like hands, with (almost) claws that dwarfed those of the namekisan-jin's. His legs had two points of articulation, the second bending backward at a 45 degree angle, but he still managed to stand straighter than the others. The heavy armor over his shoulders was rather ornate, and a pitch black cape with two blue streaks running down it hung behind him. Short, cord-like hair sprouted from the back of his elongated head, and a scar ran the entire length of his powerful chest. His face was featureless- no nose, no mouth, no ears, just two piercing pure green eyes.  
  
Then he said, in a voice that they now knew came from his mind, "I am Ratal. And I have decided that you are worthy of my training."  
  
Oboe and Damaiou were still in a state of shock for a few seconds, but shook out of it when Ratal looked straight at them and said "Now, do either of you wish to change your name?"  
  
"Huh? Change our names?" Damaiou questioned, one of his antenna arching slightly in confusion. "What do you mean?"  
  
Before Ratal could speak, Bolt interjected "Come on, you don't think these are our real names, do you?"  
  
"I never really thought about it. To me, a name is a name. You take what you get."  
  
"Not here you don't." Bolt replied with a smirk, "You see, Ratal let each of us change our names when we first came. All of us did, except Zite, Arcos, and Swift. We didn't even have to pick words from our language. Like for example, my name used to be Flant. Pretty pathetic, huh?"  
  
Damaiou nodded, a smile pulling at the end of his mouth as he said "I would have to say yes. But what does 'Bolt' mean?"  
  
"Have you ever seen the dragon? Porunga?"  
  
"Once. Can't remember why he was summoned, though."  
  
"Ok. Do you remember seeing those streaks of light racing through the dark sky when he appeared?"  
  
"Yes, but what does this have to do with your name?"  
  
"In another language, those streaks are called 'bolts of lightning'. And Bolt is a helluva lot better name than Flant. We all got our names from that one language."  
  
"What race?"  
  
"Some backwards race called humans on a fairly small planet they call 'earth'. They've got tons of languages, and one of the greatest diversity of plants and animals of any planet."  
  
"Why are they backwards?"  
  
"Because they're always fighting amongst themselves. It's crazy, the same species slaughtering others of it's own because they look different. And most of them don't believe in life on other planets!"  
  
Damaiou just stared blankly, and started laughing. "Seriously? Who could be that stupid!?!"  
  
"Evidently they are." Bolt looked over at Oboe, and said "Hey, why so quiet little one?"  
  
She wasn't speaking. Just trembling, eyes rolling into the back of her head. Another dream.  
  
Damaiou, who had been standing next to the fighters, ran over to her. He got there just in time to catch her before she hit the ground.  
  
---  
  
This dream was FAR in the future...  
  
As she was in reality lying unconscious on the ground, her dream self was floating above a room, a bedroom, and there were two people asleep in the bed below. (NOTE- to all you hentai-heads out there, this is NOT a lemon, nor is it indicating a lemon in any way, nor was it EVER a lemon. So the rest of you need not worry //_^.) Oboe nearly jumped out of her skin when she recognized one of them as her future self. The other person was also a namek, and he was holding her in his arms. {{Ok.}} she thought to herself, {{Why am I here? I guess it's for some reason...}}  
  
Her question was quickly answered as she fell into a dream.. her older self was dreaming, and she could see it as well... (NOTE- ok, this is her older self's dream. The older Oboe will be referred to as "future" except when she's being spoken to, and younger Oboe will be referred to as "chibi")  
  
---  
  
Chibi saw everything through a third person view. Future was flying through a bright blue sky, the land far below, overjoyed with happiness.  
  
"Mom, how much further? I'm getting tired of flying." said a small voice behind her.  
  
Future stopped and turned, smiling at the impatience of the young boy with bright green eyes. "Lute, calm down! We'll get there eventually."  
  
"But how come dad went ahead and told us to come later?"  
  
"Honey, he wanted to be with his friends as usual before you came. Everyone is going to be rather surprised when they meet you."  
  
"But WHY? Why are they going to be surprised?"  
  
"Just please stop asking questions, Lute-kun." Future said, ending the discussion. {{He asks way too many questions. And of COURSE they'll be surprised, Vegeta will probably faint!}} Future looked at Lute again, who was staring at the ground as he flew slowly. {{He just looks so much like Damaiou when he was young. Just hope what happened to him doesn't happen to Lute.}} she said quietly to herself, sighing.  
  
Chibi's antenna flared up at hearing that. What had happened to Damaiou?!? But no answer was to come from Future. They kept flying, but then a power approached at high speed. It was flying right toward them! Future was alarmed at first, but when the person came into view, she calmed down. Although the distressed look she saw in his eyes didn't help.  
  
"What's wrong" Future whispered quietly.  
  
He answered quickly, his voice coming out rushed "You have to get out of here. There's an immense power right behind you. Go to the bottom of the tower, with the others- I'll get Lute."  
  
Future glanced at him once, eyes full of concern, but quickly flew down. And.. then everything blurred together, and began to swirl....  
  
Future found herself on the top of the lookout, which was in ruins. Near dead on the ground, she was not far from collapse. Then it blurred again, and she was holding up Lute, badly beaten.  
  
A spike of fear washed over her brain, and she snapped her head up to look into the burning eyes of a formless, night-black demon, and as it moved to attack, everything began to move in slow motion.  
  
Future's body screamed at her to move, but the blaze of the demon's soulless eyes held her in a deathgrip. Suddenly, out of nowhere, something rushed before them both, taking the blow. As it fell limp and lifeless against her, a slow flow of vibrant purple blood coursing down her, Future jolted awake and screamed.  
  
---  
  
The person that was next to her shot up, a yell of "WHAT THE HELL??" jumping from his mouth as he tumbled off the bed trying to avoid Future's frantic kicks before she caught herself and snapped totally out of the dream.  
  
He moved over, put his hand on her shoulder, turned her around and said "Oboe, what's wrong?"  
  
She looked up, eyes slightly tearing, and said "It's that dream again, Piccolo."  
  
Piccolo's eyes softened, and he looked her straight in the eyes as he said "That's the third night in a row. And this is now the third time in a row I'll have told you that it's just a dream. Noone is going to die. Let alone me. Now, I know you can't control having these dreams, but can you at least watch it with the kicking? I may have escaped yesterday and today, but the first time you caught me by surprise and nearly broke my jaw."  
  
Future smiled slightly as he unconsciously took one hand from her shoulders and rubbed his cheek gingerly. "Sorry." she almost laughed, "but... I can't help it. Now, I know you're sick of hearing it, so let's go back to bed. Just hope we haven't woken Lute up."  
  
"I don't think so. That kid sleeps like a rock." Piccolo replied snidely. "Now goodnight." He turned out the light that'd been switched on earlier, and crawled back next to her.   
  
She rolled over a bit so that his arms encircled her, and put her head next to his chest so that she could feel his heart beating.  
  
---  
  
As Future fell asleep, Chibi awoke from her dream to see Damaiou crouched next to her, crying into his hands "Damn! Why can't you wake up, Oboe?"  
  
Then his eyes opened, and when he saw she was ok, a huge smile of relief consumed his face, and he lifted her up + hugged her.  
  
The warriors stood by, silent. Ratal had shown them things beyond their planet, given them memories of other places, other things, other emotions, other peoples, other lives. They knew better than Oboe and Damaiou themselves how deeply the two could come to care for each other as they grew older together. If left alone, they would never understand some of the feelings that might develop- nameks couldn't comprehend 'love' in any form except family and friends.   
  
Ratal walked up to the two and said "We must now continue." silently.  
  
Oboe stood up, and replied "I'm sorry. That just happens to me sometimes. I..."  
  
"I know. Sanchiro told me long ago." he spoke in his silent voice, and added "But we must now carry on."  
  
So the eight veteran trainers went off to practice independently, and Oboe and Damaiou were left to Ratal's judgement. 


	30. Lessons

___Chapter 30___  
  
"So, you think you are ready to enter into this life?" Ratal said quietly, his body not moving at all, except when the wind whipped by and brought his cape cascading around him.  
  
Damaiou walked forward, and laughed. "I can take anything you dish out!" were the words in his mind, but before the last passed his lips, it came out jumbled in spit as a foot planted itself firmly against his back and sent him skidding a couple yards.  
  
Oboe stared in shock as Damaiou pulled himself to his elbows, spitting out a tooth and cursing "The HELL?????" as he stood, and wiped a drop of blood from the side of his mouth. He just about got into a fighting position when a hand swept his feet from under him, sending the child tumbling toward the ground. He didn't even get the chance to fall all the way before a foot jammed into his ribs- fists slammed into his face simultaneously, stars filling the young namek's vision as he flew headfirst into a solid rock wall.  
  
Now bleeding from multiple shallow cuts, blood flowing over one eye, Damaiou shrieked out "WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!" as he tried to pull himself from the rock, but was slammed back into them instantly.  
  
It went on like this for half an hour, with Damaiou being beaten around like a ragdoll, Oboe staring amazed. Noone had ever been able to touch him in a fight, and now he was nearly unconscious.  
  
Damaiou kept trying to see his attacker, but between the suddenness oh the blows and the slight veil of blood over his eyes, it was hopeless. But he felt it when a blade of pure energy appeared, right up against his throat.  
  
"Lesson one- watch your tongue." Ratal hissed in Damaiou's ear.  
  
He withdrew the blade, and as Damaiou collapsed in relief, Ratal said "You are never to be as brash as to think that you can take me on so easily. In time, yes, but no time soon."  
  
"Y~yes Ratal-san." Damaiou stuttered, wiping the blood from his face. Ratal glanced toward Oboe.  
  
"Be a good child and help warn your friend to avoid such foolhardiness." he said. Oboe nodded, still a bit shocked.  
  
"Sir... what of his injuries?" she asked quietly.  
  
"They are superficial. The only reason he was stumbling so much was because he was caught off-guard. He'll live." Ratal said, looking back down as he noticed Damaiou clutching his right side. "What is it?"  
  
He glanced up when he heard Ratal speak to him, and replied "My arm... hurts bad...."  
  
"Let me see." Ratal said, and Damaiou extended his arm out to reveal a long, deep cut running down it. Ratal seemed to be examining the wound, but then he jerked his one hand back, produced a blade, and sliced Damaiou's arm off right at the shoulder. Damaiou eyes gaped wide, and he screamed bloody murder as he slumped to his knees and grasped the bleeding end.  
  
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!!!!!" He screamed, tears swelling in his tightly shut eyes.  
  
"Lesson two- your natural abilities are one of the most valuable tools you can ever have in battle." he said coldly.  
  
"What does that have to do with anything" Damaiou whispered in a voice that was barely audible, even to Oboe's ears.  
  
Ratal sighed, knelt down in front of the child, and said "Regenerate."  
  
Onyx eyes swelling with pained tears opened, and the voice behind them muttered "I don't know how."  
  
A sigh came once more, and Ratal put his hand over the one in which Damaiou clutched the stump, and said "Just free your mind, like in meditation. Then focus on the missing limb, and channel your thoughts only to an image in your mind of it growing back. Focus your will onto it, and it shall happen." Damaiou, nodded, and shut his eyes.  
  
A deafening silence resulted. For three minutes, noone moved. Then a sickening sound echoed across the silence, and a sweat-covered arm shot from the stump of the child's shoulder. Damaiou stared in gleeful shock, and spun his arm around twice to make sure it was working.  
  
---  
  
The three continued like that for a while, and were up to 'lesson 30' before Ratal decided they could call it quits.  
  
An orange glow covered the sunset landscape as the children walked back to the others. They were both cut and bruised, but none the worse for their wear and laughing together.  
  
"I can't believe it! We've survived our first day!" Damaiou laughed, letting out a giddy whoop of joy as he raised his right arm in victory.  
  
Oboe smiled, narrowed her eyes, and whispered "Race 'ya." as she took off at top speed.  
  
"Hey, no fair!" he yelled, laughing as he tried clumsily to catch up. She got back to the building first, and sat down, panting and laughing as she watched Damaiou walk over, breathless.  
  
"Beat.... me... again." he muttered, a smile on his face as he slumped next to her. A tall shadow passed over the two, and they glanced up.  
  
"Hey, how was it?" Tern said, kneeling down so he could be on eye level with them.  
  
"Fine." Damaiou muttered, still trying to catch his breath.  
  
Tern smiled, and remarked "That was an amazing speed you reached, little one." He turned his head a bit behind him, saying "Maybe even faster that you, Swift."  
  
"No way!! Noone is faster than me!" Arcos yelled from behind.  
  
Zite broke in, saying "Well, she's smarter that you, we know that."  
  
"But that's not much of an achievement! This is Arcos we're talking about!" Bolt chortled, leaping into the air to avoid getting slammed into a wall.  
  
Frost raised his arm, and said "Stop." quietly. Everyone froze, including Bolt, who had Arcos in a headlock. "Better." Frost whispered, turning around and walking off toward the tall grass. "Time to go, Rager."  
  
Everyone turned to the silver-eyed warrior, who glanced at them and said "We're off to Apchar to train by ourselves."  
  
"There?" Comet said, pushing forward from the back of the group, eyes reflecting the orange light in the air oddly as his eye ridges shot up.  
  
"Yes." Rager said quietly, turning and walking after Frost. They went to the edge of the taller grasses, and the next second were off in the air, streaks of cool blue and blood red energy the only signs of their departure.  
  
---  
  
There was utter silence for a few seconds. Their faces were stoic, except for Comet's shocked expression, and Oboe and Damaiou were just as confused as hell.  
  
"What's 'Apchar'?" Oboe said, looking up at the backs of their heads.  
  
Comet looked at her, his eyes silent, and said "The mountains, to the north. Nothing lives there- it's devoid of all life."  
  
"What's wrong with them going there?"  
  
Comet's face twisted, and he was about to say something when his attention was drawn behind and above the two. "Sire..."  
  
"I know where they're going." Ratal whispered.  
  
"And you're allowing him?" Comet said, stunned. "You know about that place!"  
  
Ratal raised a hand, and said "Yes I know. And I trust him."  
  
"But the last time he went there, he-"  
  
"SILENCE!" Ratal roared, and Comet cringed. "Say no more of it." His emerald eyes flickered in the last light of the sun, and he turned toward the building and pointed a hand at it, opening it. Ratal closed the door swiftly, and disappeared. 


	31. To see with eyes unclouded........

___Chapter 31___  
  
The sun had finally fallen, and dark shadows flitted over the shapes of the land and cast them randomly across, giving it an almost surreal appearance. Zite made a 'come here' gesture to Comet, and the two went to a far corner of the island, speaking silently as they passed everyone. A short flash of the conversation reached the two children, including the name "Katass".  
  
They were about to question, but then Swift looked around and said "Ok, who wants to spar?" in an upbeat voice, brushing away the dark feeling in the air.  
  
Bolt leant back against the building, and replied "Not really. I'm tired."  
  
Swift's eyes shot to Tern, who shook his head. Then they glared at Arcos, who smirked and said "Swift says I want to spar."  
  
A laugh shot out from behind, and Swift yelled back "Ah, shutup Bolt!" Bolt obliged.  
  
"What about us?" Oboe said quietly, looking up at the others.  
  
"Who said you can't spar with us?" Swift questioned.  
  
"Noone."  
  
"There- that means you can." Swift looked back at his younger brother, and added "We were debating the face that she could be faster than you earlier."  
  
"I think Damaiou is just as fast as you too." Bolt said from behind.  
  
Green eyes flashed in shock as Arcos yelled "W-W-W-WHAT!?!??", glaring at his friend.  
  
"You heard me. I said they're just as fast, and faster than you, Arcos." Bolt replied, and added "And at such a young age... by the time they reach ours, I'll be willing to bet they can run circles around you." He ended his statement with an evil smirk, trying not to laugh at Arcos' dumbfounded face.  
  
Swift looked around, and, summing up the situation, said "It seems that Arcos will be sparring with Damaiou and Oboe. But who first?"  
  
"I'll take them both on at once!" Arcos said, his face confident.  
  
"So, do you accept the challenge?" Swift asked the children.  
  
Damaiou was also confident. "Certainly."  
  
Bolt glanced up from the corner, and said "Hey, Damaiou!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"What's this I've heard about your name having two parts? Meant to ask you earlier about it, but forgot."  
  
"Oh, that. I don't know why, but it has two parts. Everyone calls me Damaiou, but my full name is 'Pikkoro Damaiou'."  
  
---  
  
They flew swiftly, a silence between them that seemed more impenetrable then death itself. The mountains loomed ahead, and Frost landed softly just outside their range. Rager's feet touched down just behind him.  
  
"Remember who you are. That's the most important thing, aeco." Frost whispered as his footsteps flowed forward nearer the dead mountains.  
  
Rager nodded quickly, replying "I know. But that was not the purpose of this- it was for me to harness myself, not deny it."  
  
"I know." Frost whispered, turning his face swiftly, "To find yourself, you must be able to see with your own eyes."  
  
There was silence once again, and it was broken by the swish of fabric as Frost pulled his cape over his head, tossing it to the ground. It was soon followed by a flash of blue fabric, his gi top.  
  
"Once we enter Apchar, you MUST keep your eyes."  
  
"I know, aeco." Rager replied as he slipped his vest off his shoulders, watching as it fell to the ground with a loud 'clunk'.  
  
Frost looked Rager straight in the eyes, and touched one finger to his forehead- Rager mirrored the move simultaneously. The sky flashed with two ki trails, and they blasted into the realm of the mountains.  
  
---  
  
"Now, Arcos, you want to get started?" Swift questioned.  
  
"Sure." he smirked at the two, plucking his turban from his head and tossing it aside. The three moved away from the center of the field, and disappeared at once.  
  
Within seconds, Damaiou and Arcos reappeared, trading blows with noone landing a hit. But where was Oboe? Behind Arcos- she landed a hard kick to the back of his head that startled him and sent him tumbling to the ground, allowing Damaiou to get some hits in.  
  
But, Arcos had disappeared after barely a second of hesitation. He was the weakest in physical power of Ratal's students, but his speed was unequaled. He also had a rather interesting, and unique, trump card.  
  
{{Looks like he's about to use it now.}} Ratal thought to himself as Arcos folded his hands flat, palms facing up. Damaiou and Oboe were charging ki attacks as Arcos cried out "Charkan!" and slapped his hands together.  
  
Suddenly, the two let loose their ki attacks, and the energy had hurled halfway across the distance between them by the time Arcos used his. The children just watched at the energy hurtled toward the green eyed warrior, who only smiled and stood his ground.  
  
When the blasts were merely six feet from him, a blip in the air appeared around them. They stopped completely, seemingly covered in a static field of energy. Arcos smiled, closed his hand into a fist, causing the two blasts to become one, and thrusted his arm forward, screaming out "HA!"  
  
The energy halted for a second, but suddenly turned around and flew straight back to it's originators. The second it turned, the static around it disappeared, reappearing around Damaiou and Oboe, trapping them in the path of their own energy. There was silence as an explosion filled the air.  
  
---  
  
"Told you I could do it!!!!" laughed out Arcos as the dust faded, and Oboe and Damaiou were nowhere to be seen.  
  
Swift, Bolt, and Tern jerked around, eyes wide. The three dropped the cards they had been playing with, and Swift said in shock "What the HELL did you DO??? You killed them!"  
  
All eyes turned to the building as the door opened, revealing Ratal, who stated silently "They're not dead, idiots. They're down there, in the crater."  
  
As he finished his statement, a hand appeared on the side of the blast hole. Damaiou pulled himself up, lugging Oboe out behind him. She was unconscious.  
  
And Damaiou was pissed.  
  
---  
  
The air was deathly silent in the mountains, but suddenly it exploded as two bolts of light blared violently, shedding the landscape in a bizarre blue and red spectrum.  
  
A silver iris covered with red streaks glanced around, but before it could move far, it met a stern pair of icy-blue eyes. .  
  
"No." Frost whispered, touching one finger to his forehead. Rager unconsciously mirrored the move simultaneously, closing his eyes for a second. When they opened again, the red had receded to the corners of his irises.  
  
"I told you- keep your eyes."  
  
Rager glanced down, and whispered "It is no simple manner. Seeing this place....."  
  
"Then close your eyes."  
  
Rager glanced back up. "Aeco?"  
  
"I know what I'm doing. Close your eyes if you can't see this place and keep them. I know you- you don't need to see to be able to fight. Blindness does not make one incapacitated. As you know, because of-"  
  
"DON'T." Rager growled as he pressed his rapidly rising ki down. Red illuminated his pupils for a split second, but he subdued it.  
  
Frost shut his mouth. {{That was foolish.}} he whispered to himself, {{I should know better that to mention blindness in this place....}}  
  
---  
  
He flew over to Ratal, handed her to him, and flew back to face Arcos.  
  
"Damn! I thought I beat you two." Arcos frowned at Damaiou, but then smiled as he glanced toward Oboe. "Beat her though. So much for the mighty speedbugs!!" Arcos said, now laughing.  
  
Damaiou's eyes flared, teeth pulling back into a grimace. He was really pissed now, jumping back a step to get some distance. Arcos was laughing so hard he couldn't see. Damaiou raised his hands together above his head, palms facing out.  
  
A small sphere of energy appeared in the center of the forward hand. Damaiou was extremely pissed. He was so angry he couldn't see, didn't know what he was doing, he had never done this attack before, never even seen it, it didn't even exist until this point. Arcos couldn't see because, stupidly, he was still laughing. Damaiou leapt into the air, arms arched above his head. Only then did Arcos stop laughing. He froze.  
  
That was alot of energy that the kid had. Damaiou saw him panic. Arcos' charkan couldn't stop this. Damaiou couldn't even stop himself.  
  
That sharukus was laughing at Oboe. He didn't like that.  
  
And with that anger coursing through him, he screamed "MASENKAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!", and the energy shot from his hands like a wild thing that had just been released from an unbearable captivity.  
  
Arcos nearly had a heart attack, but pure instinct sent him dodging away at top speed. The attack went blaring past by merely an inch.  
  
Upon realizing a millisecond later that it had missed, Arcos pointed at Damaiou, and laughed out "HA!!!!", a huge smile of relief on his face as the masenka hit the ground with a sound not unlike a scream.  
  
---  
  
Rock shrapnel flew everywhere, and chunks of earth and dirt fell like rain for a sew seconds before Bolt popped his head up from behind a large boulder.  
  
"DAMN!!!" he laughed out, brushing the sweat from his forehead, a crazy grin on his face. "That was AMAZING!!!"  
  
"Hell it was!" Swift chimed in from next to him. He smiled, saying "Right Tern?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Tern?"  
  
Still none.  
  
"TERN???" Swift shouted, turning around. Tern wasn't there.  
  
"Bolt, where's Tern?" he asked, turning to his friend.  
  
"I don't know, I thought he was with you!"  
  
"I thought he was with you!"  
  
"Well, if he's not with us, then where IS he?"  
  
Dead silence.  
  
Swift's eyes flew wide open, aghast with horror.  
  
"Oh....... no........" 


	32. ... by hate

  
___Chapter 32___  
  
Swift's face was a mask of pure horror as Bolt shook him, yelling "What??? What is it??? What's wrong??"  
  
Swift's bottom lip trembled as if he were speaking, but nothing came out. His pupils had dilated to the size of a pinprick, and he was sweating. Bolt was getting scared, and pulled away from his friend as he saw flashes of gold and green coming toward them from the corner of his eye.  
  
Zite and Comet ran over to the two, and were about to demand an explanation when they saw Swift.  
  
"B.... brother?? Are you ok?" Comet whispered. Arcos landed and asked the same.  
  
At the sight of his brothers, Swift's face flashed back to normal. "Tern..."  
  
"Yeah, we were talking about where Tern was, and you freaked out." Bolt said, confused.  
  
Swift gulped, and stuttered, "Tern... got..." He hit himself to calm down, and said quickly "Tern got hit."  
  
"WHAT!!!!" everyone said at once. Comet recoiled and nearly fell over.  
  
"He got hit by the blast- I know it! Why else wouldn't we have seen him yet?"  
  
Arcos just stared at his brother for a second, but then turned on his heel and ran to the side of the crater.  
  
"Holy CRAP!"  
  
"Is it him?"  
  
".........."  
  
"COMEON!"  
  
"...yes."  
  
Damaiou, who had barely been conscious at all since letting out that blast, didn't even notice when everyone raced to Arcos' side. His vision just went black, and the last thing he heard was Zite's quiet whisper of "Oh my god he's-"  
  
---  
  
Far away, silver was suddenly assaulted by a deep, blood-red crimson.  
  
---  
  
Damaiou awoke several hours later. At first all he saw was darkness. Then two glowing green eyes appeared above him.   
  
That shocked him into consciousness. He screamed and leapt up, but when a hand touched his shoulder, he screamed again and leapt in the opposite direction. Only then did he see where he was, and who was around. Oboe stood, her hand out where it had rested on his shoulder a second ago. Ratal stood over them both, his hood masking all of his face save his brilliant green eyes. They were inside Ratal's sanctuary, the small, one-roomed building in the center of the field.  
  
"What happened out there?" Damaiou asked aloud, confused.  
  
"That was an impressive show of power, boy. Greater than that of any of my warriors at your age. You nearly killed Tern." Ratal said in a flat tone.  
  
The child's onyx eyes went wide, and quickly scanned the room. Then he saw something lying in a corner on a blanket. Nothing could have prepared Damaiou for what he saw.  
  
It wasn't gruesome, not like would be expected. There wasn't a drop of blood on him. His body was perfectly limp, and all there- no gaping holes or missing limbs. His eyes were closed, neck stretched out gently, face calm. But what scared Damaiou was the scars.  
  
Tern's arms, legs, and chest were laced and marred by dozens of long, dark scars.  
  
He stepped back a step, and gulping, asked "Did... did I do that? And.. are you sure he's alive? He doesn't look it...."  
  
Ratal turned his back to Damaiou, and said "No- he's been like that since before you were born. And I never said I was sure he was alive, I just said he wasn't dead. It took all my energy to revive him from the brink of death to this point. I can only hope he pulls through on his own."  
  
There was silence, but it was broken shortly when someone began hammering on the door.  
  
"Hey, let us in!!! We want to see Tern!!!" Swift yelled.  
  
"Last I saw, he was a goddamn corpse!!" Zite called from further behind.  
  
"At LEAST tell us if he's DEAD or not!! It's been five hours!" Arcos cried out.  
  
Ratal did not turn. He merely lifted a hand and snapped his fingers. The door flung open, and the five warriors standing outside rushed in.  
  
But just about then, the air fluctuated oddly, and another figure from behind pushed through.  
  
It was Rager.  
  
---  
  
Rager just stared for a full minute. His eyes, his silver eyes, were streaked with red, appearing bloodshot. But nameks don't have red blood.  
  
"WHAT THE ****!?!" Rager screamed. He kicked everyone out of his way, sending Swift, Comet, and Damaiou sprawling to the floor as he ran to Tern's side. "Oh my god!! Tern! Speak to me!!" came his hysterical cries as he tried to shake Tern awake. It wasn't working.  
  
Rager's eyes closed. He stood up, turned swiftly, and snapping them open to stare at Damaiou, screamed "You damned ****ing sharukus!! You killed him, bitch!!!"  
  
Damaiou was riveted to where he stood, more frightened then even in his life. Rager's eyes were pure crimson. And so hate filled that light refused to shine off them.  
  
"Damn you, Katass, you sharukus........ I'll kill you and every other member of your damned Dragon clan for what you've done...." Rager's voice came in a low, hateful growl as he clenched his right hand into a fist so tight blood began to seep between his fingers.  
  
"W.. what does my father have to do with this?" Damaiou shouted, his voice a mix between indignance and fear.  
  
"EVERYTHING!"  
  
The quickness of Rager's reply, and the anger driving it nearly sent him tumbling off his feet. "He has EVERYTHING to do with this... but you- you will die first" Rager whispered, his crimson eyes gleaming evilly as he pointed his hand at Damaiou, one finger extended and pointing at the boy's throat. "Your death will make his fate oh-so-much more painful."  
  
Noone else dared to move. But only one of them was too scared to watch. Comet huddled against a wall, mouthing "I told them, I told them, I told them not to let him go back there....."  
  
Damaiou shook slightly, his eyes focused on the ki beam forming at the tip of Rager's finger. He wanted desperately to run, but the warrior's crimson irises seemed to stare down into his very soul and anchor it to the ground.  
  
"Time to die."  
  
Just as Rager fired, his finger flew toward his forehead, causing the beam to fly harmlessly through the wall.  
  
"No." came a quiet voice from the doorway.  
  
Frost walked in, his finger to his forehead.  
  
"You shall not kill today."  
  
---  
  
"What are you doing here? You were dying when I left your carcass in Apchar!" Rager growled, but seemingly unable to move his arm.  
  
"Yes I was." Frost whispered, "But you weren't. I had enough of my consciousness to borrow some of your energy. You were so mad with hatred you didn't notice, aeco."  
  
Rager growled, and was about to speak when Arcos cut in "You two....."  
  
"Are BROTHERS!??????" Bolt finished, eyes wide.  
  
Frost turned one eye, and said "Yes. We are twins. Born of the same egg, we can share energy, thoughts, even minds if we so desire. But we are not symbiotic- if one of us dies, that does not kill the second."  
  
{{..twins? That's possible?}} Zite mumbled to himself.  
  
"Then... can't he just take all your power right now?" Arcos asked, afraid.  
  
Frost's eye went back to stare at Rager, and his eyes slanted as he whispered "This demon is not my brother. You can tell by it's eyes." That silenced the conversation. Rager glared at Frost, but neither could move without allowing the other to do the same.  
  
"Now, tell me why you are after this child."  
  
"He killed Tern."  
  
"Baka." Frost snapped back swiftly, "He's not dead. Not yet. And you know it."  
  
Rager straightened his position slightly, causing Frost to do the same, and said "He's doing a damn good job of finishing what that sharukus started twelve years ago."  
  
"RAGER! How dare you blame him for what happened, it was an accident!"  
  
"I don't give a damn! He blinded Tern, and scarred his body so badly it hurts him just to walk! It seems too convenient that his son takes it one step further- putting him in a coma, and there's always this fact: If Katass hadn't scarred him, Tern would have been able to get away from that THING that child shot! I swear, if I let this one live long enough to spawn, his son will finish it!!"  
  
"KATASS WAS ONE OF US!!! HE WOULD NEVER HAVE TRIED PUROPUSELY TO KILL A FELLOW WARRIOR!!"  
  
"They why did he leave us after it happened?"  
  
"He didn't want to take the chance of hurting another person! And I don't think you helped any!"  
  
Rager lowered his eyes, and whispered "Because I know the truth."  
  
Frost's eyes gleamed brightly, and he pulled his fingers from his forehead, breaking the link suddenly and slashing Rager across the face before he could act. Frost flashed behind him, pinned Rager's arms to his chest, and slammed his knee into his back, completing his first loss of self-control.  
  
"I'm not afraid to kill you." Frost whispered hatefully. "You're not going to harm anyone- not Katass, not the boy, not the Dragon clan, not me. If I have to knock your head off to stop you- so be it."  
  
Oboe was scared. She didn't want anyone killed. There was only one thing she could do. And it just might cost her life. {{Death by suffocation is NOT something I look forward to..}} she thought to herself, and shuddered. But, acting fast, she yelled out "STOP!!" 


	33. Bright eyes

___Chapter 33___  
  
Frost stared straight into her eyes, not saying a word. The expression on his face was enough to convey his silent confusion, and the tinge of shame in his eyes said more that any spoken thing could.  
  
"I can help." Oboe whispered as she glanced down at her feet. "You see, my father is of the dragon clan... as am I. I feel sorrow for what has happened to Tern, and the pain it's caused Rager. And I wish to amend for the wrongs that have been committed."  
  
Rager just stared at her, face saying nothing. "And how would you do that, child?"  
  
"I can heal."  
  
His face suddenly erupted in fury, and he screamed "THEN WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THIS BEFORE???"  
  
Oboe, unflinching, stated "Because you would not listen to me."  
  
Rager glared straight at her, almost challenging her to attack him, but could see no hatred, no lies, no fear of him in her eyes. It was even more bizarre to him because he knew the borders of her healing ability.  
  
"You haven't even known us for a day... why risk your life?" he mumbled, still glaring, but confusion came onto his face at her answer-  
  
"Because he does not deserve to die. And you do not deserve to be in this much pain, that you hide it away in a corner of your mind till it erupts in hatred and rage, giving you the appearance of a demon- when you are merely just trying to deal with the burden you feel on your shoulders because you are responsible for such an innocent life along with your own. Your two lives are more important than mine. If I die.... I die."  
  
Oboe's voice was staid, with no fear or remorse to tint it's integrity. She was still young- still innocent to the evils of the world, but willing to chance her life for people who were practical strangers. And something in the site of that hit him.  
  
His eyes, instead of flaring in hatred, lost their hardness, and he closed them as he whispered "Please, if you can do anything, do it."  
  
Then he dropped his head, and a single tear flowed down his cheek. Rager dropped to his knees, and began to cry silently. Frost knelt next to his brother, looking on in silence as he placed his hand on his brother's shoulder.  
  
Damaiou looked up as Oboe walked over to Tern, placing her right hand on the side of his face and her left on his throat. She closed her eyes, and her antenna perked up as pure white energy flowed from her palms and enveloped the two. It took only three minutes. But the time was not what Oboe had been worrying about. It was what happened next.  
  
As Oboe released her hands from him, and Tern opened his eyes in confusion, she collapsed on her side, unconscious. She wasn't breathing.  
  
---  
  
Damaiou stared in horror as she collapsed, her body rigid. He didn't know what to do. Her heart wasn't beating. This wasn't one of her dream-trances, it was something totally different.  
  
Oboe could heal, but when she healed anyone but herself, it took such an extreme amount of energy out of her that it stopped her lungs. If not awaken in a matter of time, she would die.  
  
Rager opened his now silver eyes when he heard Damaiou whisper "Oh no... god no.."  
  
He stood up, knelt down next to the boy, and whispered "I'm sorry for what I've done to you. But is there any way I can help?"  
  
Damaiou looked up, eyes covered in unshed tears as he replied "Anything you can do to help her."  
  
----  
  
As another minute passed, it was starting to look hopeless. But Damaiou refused to cry. He just knelt by her prone form, silently staring at her face, which was fading to a light yellow from lack of oxygen. But he refused to cry, and he refused to give up on her.  
  
The stillness in the room was deafening. Frost and Rager leaned back against a wall, eyes closed in meditation. Arcos sat on the ground with his face buried in his hands. Swift was yelling at Ratal, screaming that there had to be SOMETHING they could do. Zite was talking quietly to Bolt, who tended to the still-shaken Comet.  
  
It was just about two minutes when Frost's eyes snapped open, and he stated "I know what to do."  
  
"Tell me." Damaiou whispered without turning as he tightened his fragile grip on her right hand.  
  
"It's a human trick, called cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It's not much of a hope, but it's all we have."  
  
"Just tell me what to do."  
  
---  
  
"... and now all we can do is wait." Frost said quietly.  
  
It took only seconds before they knew, but it seemed so much longer. Then, as Damaiou listened, her heart began to beat again. And she opened her eyes.  
  
Neither of them spoke. Oboe's bright sapphire irises and Damaiou's dark onyx ones said more than any words could ever express. 


	34. Templar

  
~~ NOTE- those of you who are not fans of Blizzard's "Starcraft" series of computer games will be sorta left in the dark for a while here. If you haven't played this game, and are a fan of sci-fi or RPG's in general, I highly recommend it. //.^ Sorry for the inconvenience to not-Blizzard fans. You'll just have to bear with me here. Oh yeah, while I'm talking to you guys, did anyone notice the pattern in Damaiou's and Oboe's brothers names? Well, on with the story. Ciao! ~~  
  
  
  
__Chapter 34___  
  
Ratal watched from a distance as all the others rejoiced at the revival of their friends. Then they left his sanctuary, and he was alone again.  
  
{{As I always am.}} he thought to himself as he looked out at their sleeping forms. All arguments between the ten had been forgiven, and no grudges held. That was one of the wonders of the namekisan-jin spirit- their capacity for peace. They lived in a society where individuals were seen for who they were, and allowed to blossom in their own ways. Ratal had not been so lucky.  
  
He turned away from them, and shut the single window, bathing his sanctuary in darkness once more. He needed to be alone. His people had craved solitude ever since they had been exiled from Aiur by the high templar.  
  
{{Even before that}} he thought to himself, {{We dark templar have separated ourselves from that damned Conclave, and lived alone, forced to wander the deserts and wastelands of Aiur in order to keep away from the rest of the Protoss. Yet they feared us, they feared our power. So we were exiled to space.}}  
  
As Ratal said this to himself, the memories of how he had come to be trapped on this planet surfaced in his mind, and since he was in a state of meditation, the memories came as clear as day...  
  
---  
  
Ratal had NOT always craved solitude. When he was younger (the protoss equivalent of a 16-year old) he had often traveled the populated areas of Aiur with his three friends and his brother.  
  
Ratal and Ishena were training to become Scout pilots. Shat had just become a Zealot, and Cha had the great ambition to one day be the head of one of the great Carriers. They had been born into protoss society, unknowing of the dark past hidden within their blood.   
  
Most of the dark templar had left the cities and gone into isolation, refusing to submit to the Khala and chance loosing their identities. But even though these four had opened their minds to it, they did not truly use it at all. Instead of working for the betterment of their race, they went wherever and did whatever they wished. Which, more often than not, got them into trouble.  
  
Only Ratal's older brother knew of his heritage. But he did not wish to leave his friends or home behind with society, so he lived in it's shadow.  
  
But one day all that changed.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
The night was silent, save for the sounds of the city lights humming softly all around. Buildings stood tall and dark, nearly hiding the twin moon's lights. A thin layer of mist was settled on the ground, shifting in spirals as someone rounded the corner onto the street.  
  
The silence was broken by laughter, and voices speaking back and forth between three tall beings who's skin tones varied from light gray to midnight blue. One was walking quietly behind the other three, his faded gold arms crossed over his chest as he glanced at the figure walking in total silence behind him.  
  
{{Zeratul's being unnaturally quiet, even for him.}} thought Ratal as he watched his brother's long black and blue cape flow behind him. He was deep in thought. Again.  
  
{{Damnit he gets on my nerves sometimes.}} Ratal mumbled to himself before saying aloud "Hey, we got any plans for tonight, or are we gonna walk around this block another fifteen times?"  
  
One of the people in front of him, the only female in the group, turned her head, it's lapis blue skin catching in a streetlight and sparkling briefly before she said "Well... Cha was suppose to have the idea. That's what he said, anyway."  
  
She looked to the thin rust colored protoss next to her and narrowed her orange eyes as she said accusingly "RIGHT, Cha? That WAS what you said."  
  
Cha sheepishly grinned (something he did with his eyes), and replied "Well Ishena, um... you see... I... forgot?"   
  
The stone gray protoss to his left laughed and added "How about we go check out around the templar archives? That's a pretty interesting area."  
  
Ishena stared at him, any yelled "Are you crazy, Shat?"  
  
"No, you heard me wrong. I don't mean to go IN them, just around them." Shat said, but then he glanced at Ratal and happened to notice the silent form behind him.  
  
Cha followed his friend's gaze, and saw what he was looking at. "Yo, Ratal? I think your brother is in one of his 'meditation trances'. Wake him up please." Cha laughed as he and Shat looked back to see if the others were keeping up.  
  
"I'm not asleep, baka." whispered Zeratul, "And are you certain it's wise to go near the templar archives at all? It sounds foolish to me. You know how those high templar are- they're always so damned-"  
  
But before he could finish his statement, three of the "damned" of whom he was speaking landed noiselessly a few feet from them.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
The three near-ivory templar stood, blue eyes staring coldly, armor glinting in the faint lights, the green robes of the Akilae which they wore not moving at all in the breeze blowing through the night air.  
  
Their gazes were centered on Zeratul, and one scowled "Dark one, what are you doing here?" at him.  
  
Ratal's eyes shot up as he blurted out "Dark templar? YOU'RE a dark templar??" as his head snapped around behind him. He was interrupted curtly before he could speak, though, by a dark laughter.  
  
"Oh, not just him. you are too boy, and the girl over there. You're all dark templar." said one of the green robed protoss.  
  
Before any of them could even think of reacting, another of the high templar began to speak- "And you can stay here no longer. The dark ones are being..."  
  
"Removed, from Aiur." finished the third, the equivalent of a twisted grin visible in his eyes.  
  
Ishena- decidedly unfazed by it all- gave in to her most natural reaction, baring her fists and growling "Just try and make us!"  
  
Behind her, Zeratul narrowed his eyes, and bent his arm, wrapped in cords and machinery, before his face as he whispered "Yes. Make us." and curled his hand into a fist. A long, curved blade of psionic power of a vibrant blue formed on the back of his wrist as the same happened on the other arm. His form suddenly disappeared all together, and he yelled "Get away from here! I can take them- RUN!"  
  
Ratal didn't think at all, but reacted purely on trust in his brother's judgment, and grabbed Ishena's arm, fleeing in the opposite direction, their friends fast on their heels.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
They ran top speed for ten blocks, ignoring the cries of "GET AN OBSERVER OVER HERE!!!", and the sounds of explosions ricocheting against the buildings. Only when the four were out of the city did they stop, collapsing in exhaustion.  
  
"What the hell happened back there?" gasped Shat.  
  
Ishena looked at him and said "They're hunting down dark templar. Seems we are. So they're hunting us." She stopped to take a breath and continued "Seems only Zeratul knew it, that's why he kept away from the people and could use power like that."  
  
Ratal was still quivering slightly, hurting with each breath he sucked in, because his lungs had been so depleted. He felt horrible for leaving his brother to fight off three high templar alone.  
  
{{But why are they after us? What have we ever done to them? Yeah, we cause a little chaos sometimes when we screw up, but BANISHMENT?}} his mind asked, still racing. {{And what was all that about the dark ones? No WAY I'm one of them! Even if I was, why would they be hunting them? Most of the protoss don't even believe they exist, and they don't want anything to do with us! They just want to stay in the deserts, in peace! Why are they going to be 'removed'?}}  
  
"You sure are taking pretty easily the idea of us being dark templar, Ishena. I still can't believe it." Shat's voice was heard, much flatter than usual. He was crouched on one of the floating anchors of a pylon, hidden in it's shadow, the blue light let off by the huge floating crystal illuminating his outline slightly. He was suddenly frightened to be where he could be seen. Only his bright green eyes were visible in the darkness.  
  
"Ratal, you ok?" whispered Cha as he looked at his forlornly silent friend.  
  
Ratal looked up swiftly, breaking out of his trance, and muttered "Fine. I'm fine. But I can't believe it. Us. Dark templar. It's crazy."  
  
The lapis blue protoss nodded, and was about to speak when she whirled around, and screamed "Shat!! Behind you!!", but it was too late. A psionic storm ripped forward and slashed into Shat, it's electric bolts laced with green psi energy enveloping him before he got the chance to scream. Shat's form collapsed downward, hitting the ground with a sickening crunch, stiff and bleeding. The three jolted to their feet to see the attackers land calmly atop the Khaydarin crystal held inside the anchors.  
  
It was the same three high templar from before.  
  
And Zeratul was nowhere to be seen.  
  
{{No!! He can't be dead!!}} Rager's mind screamed from inside his fear/shock frozen body, thinking of Zeratul and Shat at once.  
  
Before he got the chance to think that over again, though, more psionic storms whipped out from the green-robed templar.  
  
As his consciousness slipped away, Ratal swore to himself that someday he'd get revenge on the bitches that had done this to him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~NOTE- Nope, it's not over yet! For the Starcraft impaired- a Scout is the equivalent of a fighter plane, a Carrier is a huge spaceship that holds smaller space-capable planes called interceptors, a Zealot is a soldier, and psionic energy is in all practicality psychic energy in a physical form- like ki, but different. I'm sorry if I lost you a few paragraphs back, I'll be going on with this for a while, but not too long- we'll be back with nameks in another chapter or so.   
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If anybody's been confused about this, ~~~~~~~ means the same as ---, but the first is used in flashbacks, such as now and when the boys were thinking back to when they met Lute.  
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*looks at bottom of screen* 99 pages..... you've been reading my crappy story this long? Arigato! Thanks for all your support everybody, reviews really do keep an author going //.^ !! ciao. ~~  



	35. Emptyness

  
  
~~NOTE- sorry for being gone so long- I got kicked off the computer because of exams and report cards, and my parents were slow in letting me back on //.-  
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I'd like to issue a personal apology to the sole person who liked my story enough to put me on Author Alert (whoever you are) right before I got kicked off... maybe this cheese will suffice as a peace offering *hands him/her/it a piece of cheese* See- it's magical. (seriously, I'm really sorry about that.)  
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I've re-done the first four chapters, with the 1st having the most changes and the 4th having the least. Well, back to the story. ciao. ~~  
  
  
  
___Chapter 35___  
  
  
Ratal awoke days later, groaning and rubbing the back of his head as his eyes tried to regain focus. When they did, it was so odd that he felt he'd been better off unconscious. "Where the hell am I?" Ratal mumbled, blinking. He was alive- that much was obvious- but that still didn't tell him where he was. The last thing he remembered was getting blasted by psionic storms and blacking out.  
  
{{If I got hit full force by high templar, then why aren't I dead?}} he mumbled to himself, and when he felt only the pain one feels when their foot falls asleep, his eyes darted to his body and he screamed "OH MY GOD! I'm healed!!"  
  
"We all are, just don't break our eardrums!" laughed out another voice.  
  
Ratal whipped around to see Ishena and Cha behind him. But no bright green eyes.  
  
"Where's Shat?!?" he yelled out at once, but Ishena raised her hand to silence him, and pointed forward, indicating him to turn around.  
  
"Ask them."  
  
He cocked his eyes at her briefly, and shrugged as he turned to see several robed figures. If he'd had one, his jaw would have dropped.  
  
"Dark.... Templar." managed to squeak it's way out of his mind before he shut his 'mouth', the apathetic faces hidden by cloaks and masks stunning him into silence.  
  
Upon gathering his courage, Ratal was about to ask his question when a familiar voice answered "He's dead. His wounds were far more severe, we could not save him in time."  
  
The words cut through the three like a knife. Shat... dead?!?  
  
When the speaker walked forward from the crowd, Ratal rushed forward. It was his brother. The look of sadness in his eyes showed he had told the truth, and Ratal could only rest his head on Zeratul's shoulder and cry. "But why? Why Shat?" he whimpered out when he could manage to pull his face from the fabric.  
  
Zeratul rested his hand on his younger brother's head, shaking his head and whispering "I don't know."  
  
A silence hovered in the air, only interrupted by the soft whisper of sound muffled by cloth. Then that faded, and the quiet that ensued was deafening. The two still on the ground shifted uneasily, and Cha raised his hand, asking "Where are we anyway?" to break it  
  
"On an old Zel-Naga ship. We've all been captured and forced here. It was a week ago we were sent on Aiur- that's how long you three were out."  
  
All he got was odd stares.  
  
The other templar filtered out, leaving the four laughing hollowly together, the sound ringing empty through their hearts.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
It was two years later. The four young templar have spent almost all their time away from their darker, foreboding elders. Zeratul was in the middle more so than the others- respecting the dark ones for their strength, but not wanting to be among them too long for fear of becoming them.  
  
On this particular day, Ratal, Ishena, and Cha were off to take a quick fly around the area of their 'prison' in a little ship that was docked in the hull. They'd tried to invite Zeratul along, but he had been in a deep state of meditation, and was not to be disturbed. So off into nearby space the three blasted off alone.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
"Ah, kuso!" Ishena growled as she slapped Ratal upside the head, "I'm trying to pilot this piece of crap! Stop bugging me!"  
  
Ratal just laughed, saying "Why are you always so sensible, Ise?"  
  
She glanced back, a smile in her eyes as she said "Why are you always asking questions, Rat?"  
  
"Hey!"  
  
A short torrent of laughter filled the ship, but the voice in the back of the ship echoed with a more high-pitched, almost hollow sound. Ratal and Ishena exchanged looks as they glanced back at the rust-colored Protoss. Cha's laugh had not been the same lately. At least he was speaking again, not like in their first weeks of conciseness on the ship.  
  
Ishena's eyes were pulled away, though, when she spotted a little planet in the corner of the window, and she set course to it to get a closer look.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Unknown to them, a lost scourge, a bizarre fleshy-winged creature with one great eye and a simple cylindrical body floated above them in the dark void of space, and decided to get a better look at their ship.  
  
And since scourge are kamikaze fighters.....  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
One second- the little ship of three was about to enter the planet's atmosphere. The next- there was an explosion. It rocketed through the hull, sending it catapulting into the atmosphere in the collision of ship and scourge, a cloud of smoke tearing from the back like a wild thing fighting to escape the wreck of burning machine and flesh.  
  
Amid the chaos and outblown bits and pieces, lapis and gold flashed in the smoke. A scream pierced the air, but it was broken by a voice.  
  
"Where the hell is Cha!!"  
  
Silence broke, save the sound of air zipping by.  
  
"I.... I think he's... in there."  
  
".... That- that inferno?"  
  
A loud crack resonated through the ground and sky as the ship crashed down onto the planet's surface, it's greater bulk bringing it down faster, making a crater at least a mile deep. The blue shape quivered.  
  
"We're dropping like flies... First Shat, now Cha, and what are the chances we're going to survive this fall?"  
  
"Zero to none."  
  
"Now, that wasn't overly grim of you, Rat. You're suppose to try and make me feel better, dumbass."  
  
"Sorry Ise. I sort of need comforting myself."  
  
"Don't we all... *sighs* "  
  
"..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Cold."  
  
"*bops him* me too!"  
  
"*laughs* Well, if we go, we go together. Right?"  
  
"*smiles* sure. And as our first act of togetherness- let's scream. It's too quiet up here."  
  
"Ok."  
  
The wind carried their screams through the atmosphere, till it stopped dead with a sickening 'thump'. Then there was silence once again.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Their fall had not gone unnoticed.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Ratal opened his eyes painfully. Every surface of his skin was bruised, burnt, or cut open. He had numerous internal injuries. And it hurt like fire when he tried to move. But he was alive.  
  
"Damn it." he whispered as he stared up from his position, slumped on the ground on his back, staring up at a light green sky. "Well, it could be worse" he mumbled to himself, "the air could be toxic...."  
  
He and Ishena had hit straight on the edge of the crater made by their ship, and rolled/fallen straight down the steer, mile-high side till they rested on the bottom, able to glimpse the sky far above.  
  
At the thought of her, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Ishena! Ratal's eyes darted toward her. He couldn't tell if she was breathing, and would have checked further had he not glimpsed nine small shaped at the top of the crater.  
  
"In t yaaili esta?" yelled out one.  
  
Another shrugged, mumbling "Suo-cha en."  
  
They went on like that for a while, and Ratal picked up on the language in a few minutes thanks to a technique he'd been taught while learning to become a Scout pilot.  
  
Suddenly, one jumped down onto the wall of the crater, and began climbing toward him. Ratal would have been alarmed, but he was too busy staring at the strange being, obviously a child. For one, it was GREEN, which was totally alien to the protoss. Not to mention that it had a mouth and nose and these... things sticking out of it's forehead. Ratal, eyes projecting the equivalent of openmouthed shock, just stared as it jumped the last five feet to the ground with a little 'thump!'.  
  
But it popped back up, re-arranging it's turban from over it's eyes, stared at him for a second, and after deciding Ratal was no threat, smiled and said "Hi. I'm Arcos. And welcome to the planet Nameksei." 


	36. Trust

___Chapter 36___  
  
Ratal didn't say a word- he was still staring at the thing.  
  
Arcos stared back, his six year-old mind brimming with curiosity at the tall stranger. But that was suppressed when he glimpsed the other one, and muttered "Damn, you're hurt pretty bad." A closer look brought a little grimace on his face. "That has got to hurt." he mumbled under his breath.  
  
Arcos took his eyes from Ishena, and looking back up at Ratal, said as cheerfully as possible "Don't worry- I can help you."  
  
The tall thing just stood there.  
  
"Can you understand me?"  
  
Ratal nodded.  
  
"Good! Then respond!"  
  
"O-ok" Ratal mumbled in the general galactic tongue.  
  
Arcos just stared at him like he had suddenly sprouted five heads. "Did you just sneeze? Or were you trying to say something, seeing that the former is highly unlikely, since you lack a nose." Before Ratal could answer, Arcos put a hand under his chin and stated "Of course, you can talk without a mouth. So shoot that idea.", saying it more to himself than anyone else.  
  
Ratal was about to give up (Arcos was too busy arguing his theories with himself to hear him) when another shape leapt down, followed by a second. He glanced up at the two, and for a second thought he was seeing double they looked so much alike. But a second look distinguished the second as being older, and a few inches taller, in a white shirt with black pants.  
  
The older boy walked up to Arcos, thunked him soundly on the head and said "Committee is over!"  
  
Arcos' eyes jerked up as he exclaimed "When did you guys get here? Why didn't I notice you?"  
  
"You were too busy talking to yourself to notice!" laughed the other child, who was dressed in a sleeveless white gi top with black/white pants. Then he turned to Ratal, and said "I'm sorry- my name is Triin, and my friend here is Katass. Arcos was drifting off again- he gets distracted easily."  
  
Ratal nodded, and was about to say 'I noticed', but remembered they couldn't understand the galactic tongue, and so said it in their own language.  
  
Triin smiled at that, and listened as Ratal asked "He said you could help me."  
  
"That I can." Triin said as he placed his hand on Ratal's shoulder, but the templar involuntarily jerked away at the touch.  
  
"It's ok- I'm not going to hurt you." he continued as he re-placed his hand. At first, Ratal had no idea what the boy was doing, but then he began to feel his pain ebb away. Finally, after a minute, he was completely healed. And too astonished to say a word.  
  
Triin just smiled as Ratal stood up, but then he say Ishena and covered his mouth with his hand, an expression of sorrow covering his face.  
  
Katass noticed too. "Oh my GOD!!" he yelled as a shiver went up his spine.  
  
Ratal then remembered his friend, and fell to his knees, crying out "ISE!!!" He could not find any signs of life in her. "Please, help her!" he screamed at Triin.  
  
Triin just shook his head sadly, whispering "I can't."  
  
"Why not? You healed me!!!"  
  
"You... were still alive."  
  
At hearing that, Ratal just snapped, loosing the slight amount of control he had left. The three children stared, one in confusion, one in shock, one in sorrow, as Ratal began screaming, cursing, and crying.  
  
As suddenly as he had started, he stopped, his eyes full of horror, and whispered "I'm the only one left... Oh Ise, you ARE right. We ARE dropping like flies. Shat, Cha, you, and how long will Zeratul last on that floating deathtrap? And how long will I last on this desolate planet?"  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
All three children had fled when Ratal snapped. "What HAPPENED?" yelled one when they pulled themselves out of the crater. Triin was crying.  
  
"I don't know who they are or where they're from, but somehow they crashed here. He's alive, but his friend's not so lucky. Triin tried to help, but..." at that point in his statement, Katass shrugged and said "It didn't work."  
  
"How do you even know if they're friendly?"  
  
"Ask Triin."  
  
The child, decked in brown and green, turned his brown eyes to the one in question. Another boy, in white pants + neck ruff with a long black vest walked over to Triin and spoke quietly to him for a minute.  
  
Triin wiped his face dry, said "Thanks Swift.", and replied "Zite, I just don't get a feeling of evil from him."  
  
"Ok. I trust 'ya."  
  
"Whatever you say, Triin-boy. You are perfect of course." came another voice.  
  
Swift stood up, and walked over the speaker, pulling his bandanna over his eyes as he said "Stop with the attitude, Flant."  
  
Flant pushed it back up on his head as another boy with a blue gi stated "Triin hasn't been wrong before on matters of people's intentions."  
  
"But Seta, what could we do?" said another in red and white.  
  
The last child, in yellow, replied "I don't have a clue, so don't ask me."  
  
Flant frowned. He didn't know why he was doing it, but he was going to help 'trusting Triin' aid a total stranger. "Yo, Triin? There is one way. Porunga."  
  
Triin thanked him quickly, and ran back to the edge of the crater, yelling down to Ratal as he descended "Wait! I know how to help!"  
  
Ratal stood up and calmed at once, asking "How. You said she was dead. And I can neither hear her breathing nor her heartbeat. So she is. How can you?"  
  
Triin jumped the last few feet, and after getting Ratal's name, explained the dragonballs briefly. "But there's only one problem. Just a short two weeks ago we had to use them for something. You won't be able to tell them from rocks for another year. And we also have to get Sanchiro-sama's permission and his dragonball to begin searching out the other six."  
  
Ratal was silent, and Katass, watching from above, feared he would go into another fit. But he did not, and only said quietly "Then I shall wait here for that time." and leaned back against one of the walls of the crater.  
  
Triin looked back at him one last time, and began to climb out when he heard a voice behind him, and stopped. "Thank you." it had said. When he turned around, he only saw Ratal standing as firm as if he had never moved. But Triin knew better. 


	37. Garden

___Chapter 37___  
  
It was one (namekian) year later. As Arcos, Triin, and the others approached the island, they were slightly apprehensive. They were sure it was the right one, it was the largest landmass on the planet. But the crater was barely visible. Actually, it wasn't there at all. The whole area of the island where it had been was flat, solid ground with a cloak of the soft blue grass that abounded on Namek.  
  
But they decided to check out a small, namekian-styled structure, big enough for a single room, in the center of the field. Katass and Triin walked up, as the others held back, and knocked.  
  
At first, only silence. They stepped back as the door opened upward, and a figure appeared.  
  
Their first reaction was to run for their lives... if their legs hadn't turned to jelly. Whatever it was was hidden in shadow and it's long black and blue cape, which was drawn around it's form, jutting out a bit around the shoulders and held in place by ornate shoulder plates. There was a hood over it's face, but two brilliant green eyes glared out from the darkness, which was otherwise complete. The eyes were immeasurably cold and foreboding, but then a look of recognition spread over then, and it said "Triin? Katass?" as it lifted it's hood off it's face. It was Ratal.  
  
"Damn, I'm glad it's you!" laughed out Katass, "you scared the hell out of us! What's with the black?"  
  
"It's like my brother's. Also the traditional wear of a dark templar from the Sargas tribe, who I can now call myself one of for my development of abilities in the 'year' I have spent here. Follow me. I have something to show you."  
  
"Both of us?"  
  
"If you wish."  
  
They glanced at each other, but followed the templar into the darkness beyond the doorway.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
It was deathly dark inside- the only light coming from a shard of green/blue crystal, suspended in mid-air in the far corner, which illuminated the room in the deep, moody tint of midnight azure. There was nothing at all inside besides that, and a series of carvings inlaid in the rounded walls that appeared to be writing.  
  
Ratal walked over to a wall, whispering silently as he traces his fingers along one line of the carvings, and pressed his palm against a slightly raised design of a spiral. Suddenly light flooded in- a portion of the floor had swung open.  
  
"I built this space so I could have seclusion from the world. And it is, as you can see, directly above the crater."  
  
"Huh? How?"  
  
"I created a field of psionic energy, which the plants grew overtop."  
  
"Oh. Why?"  
  
"So I would not be disturbed when I'm down here." he finished, stepping down into the hole.  
  
The two jumped in after him, but upon seeing there was nothing below then save a mile of open air, they followed their first natural reaction- they screamed.  
  
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"  
  
But two seconds later, they stopped falling.  
  
"You didn't think I'd let you plummet to your deaths, did you? You're suspended on a platform constructed of psi."  
  
Triin and Katass looked forward to see Ratal. Standing in mid air. And screamed again.  
  
" AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"  
  
Ratal just rolled his eyes, scowling "Oh shut up." But it was not his words that quieted them. It was looking out into the massive... garden.  
  
The 'roof' offered concealment, but from between the plant's fibrous roots hundreds of tiny ribbons of light struck down in little shafts onto the earth. But it was far from bare- mosses and grasses and flowers of every sort and description, and some beyond description, lined the walls and floor, some even growing over the wreck of the ship, which stopped the bleakness of the scorched metal from marring the place's beauty. And at the very bottom was a small pile of earth, only covered with clover.  
  
Ratal saw their wonderment, and said quietly "I could not stand seeing this as a place of death. I wanted it to seem alive. So I used my power to induce these to grow here." and looking at the mound, he added "That's her grave."  
  
He let them stare for a short while longer, but then called their attention and said "And I found this strange object down here a short while ago. At first it was merely a sphere of rock, but now..." and he produced from behind him...  
  
"A dragonball! That's a good sign. If a dragonball has come to you, it shows that your intentions are good. We should go see Sanchiro-sama now." smiled Triin, his voice happy.  
  
And so they left (It turned out that Katass and Triin knew how to fly- they'd just forgotten that fact in their earlier panic) and traveled toward Sanchiro's island. To make a long story short, they got the dragonballs after another year of searching with the ten's combined efforts.  
  
"Finally. It's taken a long time, and been a difficult year, but we have them at last."  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Ratal awoke from his dream, and broke out of his state of meditation. The memories after that point were too painful to bear.  
  
They had wished her back, but when she appeared, alive and well, she had told him she did not feel in her heart that she belonged on this planet, so far from her people. And she convinced Ratal to use the next wish to put her back on the ship with the dark ones.  
  
"And who will tell your brother that you are alive?" she had said. Ratal gave her what she wanted.  
  
There was no third wish. If they revived Shat, he would appear on a now hostile planet, and probably be killed again. Cha had died before they had reached atmosphere, and would appear in the deadly vacuum of space. And Ratal himself did not wish to rejoin his people. He did not wish to leave these children who had become his friends, who had stood by him in his sorrow. So there was no third wish.  
  
Then his eyes had lit up.  
  
He asked for memories of different peoples, races, and times, that he may share them with his friends. The wish was granted, and the dragon left.  
  
And now, awake from his memories, he only sat still, staring out at the walls of his shelter, his sanctuary, his protection...... his prison. Then he noticed something, as he put his hand to his face.  
  
It was streaked with tears.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
~~NOTE~~ That's the end of my little Starcraft adventure. Now back to Oboe's story, and the nameks.  
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I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed "Dreams", but a MAJOR thank-you is to be sent out to chikyuu, that review turned a very bad day into something wonderful! //.^ Arigato!  
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Just remember people- the more reviews I get, the more I know how people care, the faster I type! *laughs* Don't you hate when authors use that line? We're all evil, you know. *evil keflka laugh* ~~ 


	38. Perfect

___Chapter 38___  
  
Outside, the cool air was beginning to change, the sun's rising warming the cool ground, causing the sleeping to stir.  
  
Tern opened his eyes first, and stepping over the others carefully, made his way toward Ratal's sanctuary. Something told him he was needed there.  
  
"Ratal?" he called out softly upon reaching the door. No answer. He knocked again. This time the door opened. But Ratal wasn't the one to do it.  
  
"Hello Triin." it said softly.  
  
Tern stood in absolute silence for a few seconds, before yelling out in a whisper "Katass!! What are you DOING here?"  
  
Katass smiled, shaking his head as he said "You have changed, haven't you? The Triin I knew would have said hello before asking questions about what my business is in a place I lived for seven years."  
  
"It's Tern now."  
  
"I know. And I was Fife. But let's not stand in the doorway arguing. Come in." he finished as he stepped to the side, allowing Tern to come in.  
  
"What IS your business here?"  
  
"To check up on my son. And you."  
  
"You heard?"  
  
"How could I not? You were my closest friend for quite a few years there."  
  
Tern nodded.  
  
"And about the only one I have left, I suppose."  
  
"None of us hate you! Only Rager, and that's not so much hate as it is...."  
  
"Is what Tern? He detests me with a vengeance."  
  
Tern tried to think of something to say, but could find none.  
  
Ratal broke the stillness in the air by speaking, saying "Rager fights with a heavy heart. I think his original purpose is lost to even him, now, for everything he holds inside merely blinds him more. That one will drive himself to an end someday, and only then will his soul have peace. It's not about you anymore, Katass, he merely uses you as a vent for his frustration."  
  
He allowed his words to sink in, and continued "Rager's soul has always been troubled, ever since he was a child. There's a demon living inside him, and it's slowly tearing him apart, piece by piece, his pain fueling it's strength." Then Ratal looked his former student right in the eyes, and said, dead serious "Just like your son."  
  
Katass' eyes were wide, and his hands curled into fists.  
  
"I have always felt a likeness between the two, but when I saw his reaction when Arcos hurt the girl..... It's certain. Sanchiro has felt it as well. The child's been faring well so far, but I fear that it will rip his soul in two one day." Ratal finished silently (not knowing how true his words were)  
  
Katass left shortly after.  
  
---  
  
It is now five (namekian) years later. They have all grown- in mind, in body, in spirit, in strength, and in friendship. Oboe and Damaiou have been given the same knowledge as the others, and true to prediction, were twice as fast as Arcos at their age *everyone points and laughs at Arcos* .  
  
But not everything was perfect. Rager's problems had begun progressing to dangerous levels. Comet, who had been the only one to witness the accident beside the three themselves, had been growing more and more subconsciously paranoid. Damaiou's darkness had not risen, thankfully, but he was too busy with other things to worry about that. Oboe's dreams were unpredictable, violent, and often life-threatening. More than once, the blackness had struck her from the sky, and would have caused her to plummet to her death if Damaiou had not been there to catch her.  
  
---  
  
"Come-on, you can do better than that!!" Damaiou laughed out as he spun to the side, dodging the ki-blast Oboe had thrown at him. She growled, and hurtled another at him, which he didn't bother to dodge, but merely jumped over.  
  
They were sparring together on a remote piece of shoreline on the island, headed by five-foot tall grasses on the cliff face high above, backed by the sea. The wind was whipping through the beach faster than usual, but the solitary duo barely noticed it, too focused on each other to pay attention to anything else, even when a wave would break over their forms dashing through the surf.  
  
A pair of eyes tried to keep up with them- barely. The watcher exhaled noisily, shaking his head. "Damnit...." he mumbled, smiling from his seat on the high cliff, astonished at how they seemed to have grown, and at only 14 (namekian) years old, they looked around twice their age. He smiled again, and laughed out loud.  
  
The two below's eyes snapped open as their ears caught the sound, and tilted their heads up to glimpse a broadly grinning Palidor looking down at them, his orange eyes shining.  
  
"Aeco! What are you doing here?" Oboe asked as she jumped up in the air, Damaiou hovering beside her.  
  
"Watching! What else?" Palidor smiled. The two just looked at each other, and fell down with their legs in the air, anime style.  
  
Then Damaiou popped back up, and said "Ok, is there anything you wanted to tell us?"  
  
"Not really. So, how can you keep this up all day? I've been watching since last night, and it's up in the sky now!" he said, gesturing to the star off the horizon. Not waiting for an answer, he kept on with "I don't get to see you guys so much anymore. How about we go out for a spin?"  
  
Damaiou glanced at Oboe, who nodded. "Sure Palidor!" Damaiou said, jumping airborne once again. "Let's go!"  
  
"Ok.." Palidor whispered, smiling evilly as he jumped up, tackled him, and yelled "TAG YOU'RE IT!!!!"  
  
Damaiou stared in astonishment for a few seconds, his face buried in the dirt, before laughing and yelling "You are SO dead!" as he chased after the retreating blue shape.  
  
---  
  
A couple hours later, three nameks landed in the big tree, laughing in giddy exhaustion. They'd chased each other through the skies, frightened their more irritating siblings, gone for a swim, argued who could catch the most frogs that could jump far, caused a dinosaur stampede, and countless other things, all before noon. Now was time for a rest, but they'd just gotten to drifting off when a shadow passed over the three.  
  
"Anoco!" Oboe called happily as she saw who it was.  
  
He smiled, and commented on the fact that he hadn't seen them in so long. The two got up, and glanced at Palidor, who was still yawning. "You coming?" Oboe asked.  
  
Palidor glanced up, one eye still half-closed, and answered "Nah." as he walked over to the tree, jumping onto his branch.  
  
Oboe shrugged, and was about to turn around and jump off when he said "Yo, wait!" She glanced up, seeing him half-way hidden in the leaves, yelling at a bird that flew away quickly when he kicked it. Then he pulled himself out of the branches, a bundle wrapped in adjica petals in his arms, and jumped down to the ground.  
  
"Here." he smiled, handing it to her. "A present."  
  
Oboe stared at it, glancing up to ask "Why?"  
  
"Because you're my sister, silly! I love 'ya! What's wrong with giving you a present?"  
  
She smiled, and looked down as she pulled the petals back to reveal....  
  
A little, hand-sewed chibi doll, with big blue eyes and a happy smile.  
  
Oboe just stared at it in shock, her mouth wide. Then she shrieked, gave her brother a huge hug, and started laughing brightly. "I LOVE it! Is it suppose to be me?"  
  
Palidor nodded, laughing as he pushed his sister away so he could breathe. Her eyes were bright sapphire as she said "Thank you Palidor!"  
  
Damaiou walked up to her, and held out something he'd pulled out of it's own hiding place. "I was in on it- so I made you this to keep it in." he said, holding out a tiny oval shape that fit in the palm of his hand. Oboe gave him a critical look, glancing from the chibi doll to it, as if showing him the size difference, but he just smiled, picked up her doll, pushed a button on the thing in his hand, and the doll was gone.  
  
"W.....WHAT?!??!?!??!?" she yelled, about to go pound him, but then he pressed a button on the thing, threw it, and after a big 'poof!' of smoke, her doll appeared on the ground.  
  
Damaiou just laughed at her bewildered look, and said "See? It took me a long time, but I got it to work without TOO much aggravation."  
  
Oboe took his gift, and pushed the button to see if it worked. When it did, she mumbled "Weird little capsule..." and put it in her pocket. With a smile to Palidor, she ran back to their father, and the three went, leaving a rather happy Palidor behind to sit around and smell the flowers.  
  
---  
  
Ten minutes into their conversation it happened. In mid sentence, Oboe stopped dead, her eyes glazed over. Damaiou was about to run over when she snapped out of it, breathing heavily.  
  
"Oboe? What's going on?" Sanchiro asked quietly, brows furrowed.  
  
"It's.... happening. Now." she whispered, hands shaking.  
  
Damaiou's eyes cocked slightly as he questioned "Huh? Oboe, what's going on?"  
  
She jerked her head up, and eyes on the verge of tears, whispered "The final day........"  
  
"What's that suppose to mean?"  
  
Now she was literally shaking, eyes wide in fear, crouching on the ground with her hands clutching the sides of her head. "It means that that dream, that prophesy, that I've been having, about our planet, I just know it's going to happen. Now. Today."  
  
Damaiou's face was a mask of abject horror. And Sanchiro knew it was true. He had known this day would come, when her prophecies came true, but said otherwise so as to not frighten the children. Only one other person knew- Ratal. And even as he chose his next words, he knew he was lying to them, in order to save at least one life.  
  
"Damaiou, listen to me. You are to leave this place, this planet, and search for help. Take the ship behind the back wall of this room. Ratal set the coordinates for me long ago." {{And you'll be safe on earth. At least one you will survive.}} he thought to himself as Damaiou looked at him, stunned.  
  
Damaiou opened his mouth to speak, but Sanchiro raised his hand to silence him. "Do as I say, boy." and then more gently added "Please Damaiou....."  
  
Damaiou knew he wasn't asking. "Yes, Sanchiro-sama." he said sadly, shoulders hunched, as he walked away. Sanchiro closed his eyes as the boy disappeared out the door, thinking about what he had just done. But not even he could know of the magnitude his decision would bring upon the fate of so many. When he opened his eyes again, Oboe was gone, and ran outside in time to see the small ship fly off. The last thing he ever saw of Damaiou was his forlorn face staring out at him from the small window of the ship, before it disappeared.  



	39. Left in the dark

___Chapter 39___  
  
Upon seeing Damaiou leave, Oboe could only stand there, frozen with disbelief. It was only by chance that her father had not seen her rush out after him. Damaiou didn't notice her either as he stood staring at the ship  
  
"Damaiou!" she called out, "Pikkoro Damaiou!"  
  
He turned his head with a "huh?" as the door of the ship lowered behind him. "Oboe! What are you doing here?" he asked in shock as she ran up and hugged him.  
  
Looking up with tears in her eyes, she whispered "Don't leave me here. The whole place stinks of darkness in my head. And if you leave alone, I know I'll never see you again."  
  
"Damn, Oboe. I wouldn't leave forever- I'd come back." Then he stood back at arm's length, his hands on her shoulders, and said matter-of-factly "Not like I can leave anyway. There's no door."  
  
Glancing over his shoulder, Oboe cocked an eye and replied "Yes there is."  
  
He glanced around, and his jaw dropped. "Nani? Where did THAT come from?"  
  
"Must have been something I said. I saw it open after I called your name."  
  
"Ok, I guess it's time to go..." he mumbled, abet sadly.  
  
Oboe's sapphire irises watched him, expectantly. Only turning his head, he stopped where he stood and said "You can come too."  
  
At first she seemed elated, but then she saw the melancholy look in his eyes and was confused. Then it struck her. They were going to leave their family and friends behind. She looked up to see him again, but didn't have to far. He was standing right in front of her, hands holding up her chin.  
  
"I know it's hard, but we have to go on." And then, as he moved away and stepped on the platform, he added, back turned "Maybe we'll see them again someday." That was the first time he'd ever lied to her. And she knew it.  
  
Oboe merely watched him sadly and whispered "Damaiou, you and I both know that's a lie. We both know we'll never see any of our people again. That's why we have to hurry. That's why we can't go and say goodbye or try and call anyone else to come. We need to go now, because in mere hours the world will end. And it's starting in three hours. That's why father wants us to leave so badly. I think he knew I would follow. So, in having us go, two of his children (for he considers all the people of Nameksei his children) would live."  
  
Damaiou bit his lip, glanced back at her, and nodded.  
  
Without another word (beside the password to close the door) they blasted off.  
  
In a few minutes, the place they'd spent their whole lives was merely a bright spec in the darkness, and a second later, it was gone.  
  
---  
  
It was lonely in space, and neither of them felt like talking, so it felt even lonelier.  
  
It was exactly three hours later that the gentle hum of the engine, which had lured Damaiou half asleep, was slowly overcome by another sound. The quiet sound of sobbing.  
  
As soon as the sound was identified by his ears, Damaiou swerved around in his chair to see what was going on. After regaining his balance (he'd swerved a BIT too suddenly, and thrown himself off) he glanced over to see her.  
  
She was in a pretty bad state. Lying curled down over her knees on the ground, clutching her doll and sobbing quietly, her little body shaking all over, she appeared as if in a trance, with wide white eyes turned inward.  
  
He got up and crawled over to her, but no matter how much he shook her or called her name, she didn't take any notice of him. When she finally did snap out of it, the only difference one could see were her eyes, which regained their color and turned outward once more. The other difference was that she slumped from the position she'd held for the last few hours and fell against him, crying hysterically into his vest and clutching her chibi doll like it was her only friend in the world. She couldn't stop crying.  
  
"Oboe, please! WHAT HAPPENED???" his voice yelled out. Inside, he was getting rather frightened by this whole thing, but he wrapped his arms around her and stayed silent, watching her face.  
  
Oboe stopped sobbing, and looked Damaiou in the eyes. She just sat there, unmoving, for about two minutes, not even blinking, and just as he was about to break away from her gaze, she whispered "It's over."  
  
"*blinks twice quickly* Wha?"  
  
"The storm is ended."  
  
Damaiou's antennae perked up, as did the sides of his mouth, and laughed out "That's great!"  
  
"No. You don't understand..." She was greeted by a puzzled look, his antennae drooping slightly, and said once again "You don't understand."  
  
"What's to understand?"  
  
"Damaiou, they're all dead."  
  
::silence::  
  
He recoiled in shock, but she put her one hand on his shoulder (the other still clutching the doll) to silence him. But Damaiou still spoke, every shred of courage drained from his words. "All of them... you mean....."  
  
"Yes."  
  
He swallowed quickly, biting his lip and asking "How did this all happen? WHY did this all happen?!?!?"  
  
"If I believed in such, I would say Fate. Since I don't, it all feels like a sick joke some twisted god decided to play on us. And I... can't tell you anything else. *covers eyes with her hands, doll held in the crook of her arm* It's too horrifying."  
  
"Please." Damaiou begged of her, wiping away on the back of his hand the blood he'd drawn from his lip. {{Just tell me what happened to them, damnit! There's no worse curse that knowing you're being kept in the dark!}}  
  
Oboe could see it in his eyes and finally conceded. Placing her hand on his forehead, she said "You'll be getting everything at once, so it'll be damn overwhelming. And it'll take a day for everything to sort itself out in your mind, so you'll be immobile in that time, like I was."  
  
"I can take it. I want to know what happened to my friends."  
  
Oboe gave him a look out of the corner of her eyes, which appeared not unlike pity. "Clear your mind of everything but what you must see." And as she spoke those words, his mind was instantly flooded. I will not describe everything, for they are too numerous, and as you know, death is not a pretty sight. But here are the fates of those you and I have come to know, possibly like friends.  
  
  
  
  
~~~NOTE~~~ok, I've got some rather pressing problems to deal with now, so I'm not going to be typing for a while (depression makes everything less fun //.-). Sorry for leaving you guys on such a clifthanger here. But I swear, I WILL be back.~~~  



	40. Storm

___Chapter 40___  
  
Tritoch sighed as he put his head on his knees. His older brother Damaiou had been gone a long time- training as a warrior. The child flicked the bright red sash of his headband from his face as he stood up and walked to the edge of the island to get away from the racket his siblings were making.  
  
Out of the nine younger ones, Tritoch was the most respected. He didn't try to push his luck with his superiors, but that didn't mean he was a pushover.  
  
He sat down on the cliff-edge that marked island's end, looking out at the sky. "Funny... it seems a bit strange today....." Tritoch said to noone but himself as the breeze fluttered his sea green, silver-streaked gi. But it was normal enough, so he paid it no heed.  
  
---  
  
Back at another island, someone else had noticed the strangeness in the air. Katass glanced up from the corner of his eye to the sky when a sudden breeze shot across, whipping the grass violently for a millisecond before it was gone.   
  
He stopped with his chores to look out over the water, a perturbed look to his lean face as he saw how unusually choppy it seemed. But then, as if it had been an illusion, it settled again within seconds.  
  
"Nani?" the elder whispered, lowering his eyes. When nothing re-appeared, he shrugged and turned back to what he was doing. Something kept gnawing at the back of his mind as he worked, but he pushed it away, being too busy for such things.  
  
---  
  
Palidor's drowsing form was disturbed from it's slumber when a breeze jerked through the pattern of tree leaves right into him, knocking him half off before he woke up.  
  
"D..DAMNIT!" he yelled, jerking up and shivering as he jumped to the ground and raced to hide by the boulders from the cold, wrapping his vest around himself to keep warm.  
  
But before he could go another step, the cold was gone, leaving him gaping around blankly.  
  
{{Hell? What was that? Since when does wind play pranks?}} he grumbled mentally, brushing the dust from his vest and walking over to 'Damaiou's' side of the tree to think.  
  
---  
  
The second Ratal noticed the strange clouds on the horizon, he knew it had come.  
  
He jerked himself out of his meditation, throwing the door to the outside open, and stood in the sunlight, staring out at the sea and sky.  
  
---  
  
Zite was the only one of the eight to see Ratal burst out. When Comet's next punch got through without a hindrance, and the little guy still didn't seem to notice, Comet looked in the same direction.  
  
"What's with him?" the gold-clad warrior asked, glancing toward their teacher.  
  
"I.. don't know. There's something wrong with him- I saw it in his eyes. And his aura.. it's all shaken and disturbed.  
  
Comet took a look, and saw what Zite was talking about. Usually, a person's aura hung like air around them, but not directly on them, and in a single, continuous flow. But Ratal's was rushing around him in a panic, and was fragmented to the point you could almost see holes in it at points. And a dark, black dread washed over the bright azure, shading it.  
  
Comet swallowed and spoke up, asking "What is it?"  
  
Ratal just stood wordlessly, eyes latched on the sea.  
  
"Ratal-san?"  
  
Nothing.  
  
"Sire?"  
  
"So this is the way the world ends." came his psychic voice quietly.  
  
Ratal stood straight, his shoulders relaxing. Suddenly, he jerked around violently, his cape totally encasing his form in it's black expanse before fluttering back down as he yelled "We have to go, NOW!"  
  
Everyone else (who had been training still) stopped dead where they were. From the ground watched Swift and Arcos, hands still locked in a now-forgotten struggling match, Zite's silent brown eyes, and Rager's bold silver ones, beside Frost's cool blue irises. From above watched Bolt's cynical, nearly magenta shade of black and, higher up, Frost's gentle, yet blank white.  
  
Comet cocked his head to the side, his own blue eyes watching with confusion as he said "Sire? What's going on? Zite saw you burst out here, you've been almost in a trance state, and you aura's a wreck! What's going...."  
  
He never got to finish his sentence. Before the last word passed his lips, a streak of lightning jolted through the air and struck Tern head-on, catapulting him to the ground.  
  
Then all hell broke loose.  
  
---  
  
Tritoch KNEW something was wrong now. The sea was rising much higher than usual, and he even saw a flash or two of lightning on the sea. That NEVER happened. NEVER.  
  
"Guys!" he yelled, jumping up and running to the others, "We have to get out of here!"  
  
Ifrite's antennae rose in disbelief, and began to question him ("Who died and made YOU..") but didn't get to finish as Tritoch's fist connected with his jaw.  
  
"I'm telling you, just LOOK at the sky, the water! There's something wrong, we have to get back to Katass!" he cried, swinging his arm toward the darkening sky. "There's something wrong, " he re-stated, "And we should go back home. The adults will handle this."  
  
Little Ragnoroc was the first to agree, and soon all of them had took to the air.  
  
---  
  
For a second after Tern was struck, noone spoke, noone moved. Then Rager screamed, running to his downed friend, who'd collapsed on a small islet off the Western end of the island.  
  
Before anyone else could react to stop/help him, though, they had to scatter, as lightning began striking all around. A wild shot hit a bit too close to Frost, and knocked him to the ground. Zite hauled him up on his shoulders, and ran with him to where the others had fled.  
  
"Ok, what's going ON!" shrieked Zite at Ratal, "Where did that storm come from all of a sudden?"  
  
"There's no time to explain, Zite."  
  
Zite's brows furrowed, and he was about to start arguing when Comet gave him a look that said 'just shut up, ok?'. He complied.  
  
Noone was paying attention to them anyway. The lightning had disappeared as swiftly as it had come, but now the water was rising rapidly. The islet Tern had been thrown on was at a lower elevation. And the water meant alot more there. And only Rager didn't seem to notice the danger.  
  
Comet was the first to scream at Rager to get off before he got himself killed. Then Bolt, Swift, and the others. But Rager didn't even look up.  
  
Now more than a little frustrated and scared, Comet yelled "Listen to me, damnit! I know what happened, I was there, alright? You, me, Tern, and Katass! I SAW what happened! I KNOW he saved your life, Rager!"  
  
He choked on his words for a second, but clenched his fists, yelling with closed eyes tearing " That doesn't mean you have to DIE with him! I know you feel guilty... you think I don't? I should have been the one to get scarred- you were MY best friend, not Tern's!"  
  
---  
  
The gnawing feeling at the back of his mind was growing unbearable, and Katass found himself unable to concentrate. But suddenly, crystal-clear in his mind, he heard a scream cut short, and a searing heat washed over his mind.  
  
For a second, he merely stood there, eyes wide. "Triin..." he whispered, shocked, shoulders falling.  
  
Then he collapsed into a sitting position, head resting on his hands.  
  
"I can't believe it.... Not possible- he can't just die on me..."  
  
---  
  
Palidor knew something was up. When he saw Katass-san fall to his knees, on the verge of tears, he knew something bad was happening. But when he sensed about a dozen familiar chi's , all panicked, about 20 miles off, he knew something was deathly wrong.  
  
The chi's were his siblings. And they were in serious trouble.  
  
His bright amber irises narrowed as he got to his feet, never taking his eyes from the spot he'd sensed their chi's.  
  
{{Huh? Oboe and Damaiou aren't with them..... then where ARE they?}} his mind thought, confusion showing on his features. Before he could speak a word, though, a shadow passed over him, and he whipped around to see...  
  
---  
  
Palidor was right. They WERE in serious trouble. The going had been alright the first two minutes, but then the sky went absolutely black, the wind erupted like a hurricane, and Bahumut had disappeared before anyone could attempt to comprehend what was going on.  
  
"Come-on!" Tritoch yelled above the thousand different noises colliding in the night-like sky, "This way!", flying a bit in the direction that led to home. Noone reacted though- they were either too scared or too confused by the other sounds to listen.  
  
He lost his temper quickly, and screamed at the top of his lungs "DAMNIT LISTEN TO ME!!!" That got a reaction. He made a 'follow me' gesture with his hand, and flew at a moderate pace in the right direction, the other seven behind him.  



	41. Mercy

___Chapter 41___  
  
"Katass!" laughed out Palidor at seeing who it was, "You scared the SHIT outa me!"  
  
Katass smiled briefly, but his face flashed back to stern as he said "The children are in danger. I need your help."  
  
Taken totally aback, Palidor almost tripped over his own feet (while standing still), eyes wide in surprise. "M.. me? You trust... ME for something IMPORTANT?"  
  
Katass sighed, and merely replied "Yes, Palidor. Whatever made you think I believed you were irresponsible? Alright, I've said it alot, but I know you can be trusted when something important is at sake."  
  
Palidor swallowed nervously, standing up straight as he said "I... guess so." Glancing toward the darkening sky, his eyes narrowed, and he mumbled "Not like we have much choice anyway- it's coming this way."  
  
Katass nodded grimly, and leapt to the sky with a deep teal aura surrounding him, Palidor's amber right beside him.  
  
---  
  
Dead silence followed Comet's screamed words.  
  
And then.....  
  
"My friend?"  
  
Rager turned his head, asking quietly but powerfully (like his brother) "You call yourself my friend? Then where were you?"  
  
Comet's face took a 'huh?' look at that, his blue eyes seeming lost.  
  
"Where were you when I NEEDED YOU?"  
  
Rager's voice came out in anger as he jerked around, fists clenched, holding Tern's still body, his face and silver eyes radiating rage, and...... sadness?  
  
Comet didn't speak, but Rager filled the silence. "Where were you when I needed you most, Comet? You call yourself my friend, yet you abandon me in the worst moment of my life? And where the hell were you after that? When I was fighting to get rid of that bastard, you were nowhere! And what about the rest of you?" At this, he waved his arm out at the group of them, "You ALL ignored me! EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!........ Except Tern, who I barely even knew." He dropped his eyes from them to him, bending down and lying the body softly on the ground.  
  
"I thought you were my friends..... It seems I was wrong. Only one of you would bother to speak to me, to treat me as something other that a monster..... And now he's dead. *clenches a fist against his heart* And my life is without purpose but to avenge him......."  
  
Then, surprisingly, he choked on his words, and fell on his hands and knees, shaking. As the storm around them flared stronger, a deep black wind brushed against the waters, pushing the waves higher against the islet, until water began rushing freely over it's surface. Rager mouthed seven words, his last.  
  
"May god have mercy on your souls."  
  
---  
  
Comet stared, with an expression more blank than thought possible, crestfallen. Then his lower lip quivered, mumbling incoherently. A tremor worked it's way through him, and choked his throat, until his chin fell to his chest, clenching his eyes and screaming "RAGER!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Noone was even noticing the storm now, they were too torn by the chaos within one of their own to pay attention to the kind outside.  
  
When his aura flared up, and he jerked downward, as if to go find them, they pulled out of their collective daze, Bolt and Swift restraining him.  
  
"Dumbass, what do you think you're DOING?"  
  
"There's nothing you can do, they're gone."  
  
"Use your head, Comet... even though that's not your strong point. *Attempts to laugh, breaks it off with a halfhearted sigh* "  
  
"Don't throw your life away!" and other such 'encouragement' from the four (Swift, Zite, Bolt, and Arcos respectively) got him to calm to a level where they could let go of him. Zite turned to Ratal to check on and wake Frost, but found himself too late. The cool-eyed warrior was standing in the air, eyes melancholy, posture slackened.  
  
Zite caught his eyes, and they stated sadly at one another for a second, as if affirming each other's fears. Frost was the first to turn away, and fly off toward Sanchiro's. With a pause, and final glance in respect of their fallen comrades, they followed.  
  
Ratal was the last to leave, hovering above the water and unlatching a chain from his neck with a small amethyst attached. "Goodbye, Triin, you trusted me- I shall never forget you. And I hope you've found your peace, Rager. Demons can beset you no more where you have gone." he whispered, dropping the crystal into the water, closing his eyes as it sank down into the turbulent depths.  
  
Opening them, he folded his hands and touched them toward his face, as if in prayer. Then he too was gone.  
  
---  
  
The children had no easier a going that Ratal's warriors. If not, they had far worse. Not being good flyers in the first place, this hurricaning madness wreaked chaos on their poor, inexperienced selves. Tritoch was practically loosing his mind with anxiety, trying to lead them to safety, and save his own ass in the meantime. But it wasn't working out well. Ifrite and Odin had vanished without a trace, and Ragnoroc was crying. Maudin was doing his best to aid Tritoch, but it didn't help much. Ramuth wasn't speaking, he was too petrified to even cry. Bismark was screaming at him they had to look for Bahumut, and got into a fight with Teracotto over it. All that resulted in was a black eye for Bismark and the six becoming even more disoriented in the maze.  
  
Tritoch felt like just giving up and dying, right then and there. He just couldn't handle it all.... Them his eyes jerked open as he spotted a bright light on the horizon. His jaw literally dropped, and his eyes shot wide in joy, his shivering little form feeling warmer already. Father!  
  
---  
  
Palidor saw them first, six pathetic little shapes getting smacked about in the sky.  
  
Wait a second.... SIX? Where were the other three?  
  
He tried to tell Katass, but he merely replied "There's no TIME Palidor."  
  
Palidor nodded, and flew faster.  
  
---  
  
It's impossible to describe the pure relief the children felt when the two appeared out of the darkness. They flew to an island, and took a rest to try and regain their energy. Palidor had his arms crossed, standing tall and smiling brightly.  
  
Tritoch smiled too, standing beside his brother's friend. {{It's gonna be alright....}} he whispered to himself, {{Father and Palidor will take us home, the storm will end, and we'll all be ok.... we're all gonna be ok....}}  
  
Then BAM! Out of nowhere, a tree branch came flying, and smacked Ragnoroc in the head, knocking him out and throwing him through the air. Palidor's eyes doubled in size as he yelled his brother's name, and rushed toward him, catching him in midair before he could slam into one of the large spikes on a namekian building standing there.  
  
Ragnoroc was safe, without a single bruise.  
  
But Palidor had not gotten off so easily.  
  
He slammed right into the point of it.  
  
When Katass rushed over, he was already dead. He didn't tell the children what happened, just carried Ragnoroc and told them they had to go.  
  
Palidor's body was left behind, impaled and hanging ten feet off the ground, in the cold, dark air which already reeked of death.  



	42. Another horsedreamer

___Chapter 42___  
  
~~~NOTE- Back. Well, act 2's about over now, there's not going to be much longer. And the death's not over either. I was listening to the album "Recovering the satellites" by the Counting Crows while writing this chapter, so if any of you have it, just pop it in on #9 while reading this if you'd like. Ciao! ~~~  
  
Frost flew at the front of the group in a melancholy silence. Comet was still shaking, and Zite flew beside him, talking to him quietly. Arcos' face showed more than a hint of fear as he glanced around at the dark sea and darker sky, jumping whenever the thunder cracked. Ratal followed at the back to make sure noone fell behind, doing his best to ignore the bad feeling he was getting from the whole situation. Swift was shaken, but firmly set on getting to safety.  
  
Only Bolt did not seem afraid. As a matter of fact, he was smiling. But noone was looking his way, so noone noticed.  
  
---  
  
Tritoch knew something was up when he got a sinking feeling at Katass' return. Where was Palidor? But his father wouldn't answer, only avoided the question and flew off, quickly followed by the others.  
  
Tritoch stayed behind, though. He could catch up in his own time.  
  
{{I just wanna see where he went.}} he thought to himself as he rounded the bend.  
  
And stood stock-still, only opening his mouth to scream.  
  
---  
  
It didn't take Katass long to notice Tritoch was missing.  
  
His heart was screaming at him to go looking for the child, but his head told him that if he left these ones, they would all die. Tritoch might be able to handle himself alone...  
  
Katass' thoughts were interrupted when the bundle in his arms stirred, the child's eyes opening slightly. Seeing where he was, he jerked up, staring him in the face and saying "P...Palidor? Where's Palidor?"  
  
Katass' throat choked up, looking at the tiny, scarred child, who's first thought had not been on himself, but of his brother. "I.... he went ahead, to make sure the way was safe." he lied, feeling sick as he said it. It wasn't RIGHT to lie to children... but if they knew the truth, they'd panic. They all had looked up to him, seeing him as an adult almost, even though he was just their age.  
  
Ragnoroc's face lit up with a smile, but the intention of the look was lost in the twisted scar that ran across it.  
  
Noone noticed the water start to rise rapidly behind them, rushing forward.  
  
---  
  
Tritoch finally was able to pry himself away from the ghastly sight, and ran away as fast as he could from that place.  
  
But in doing that, he became hopelessly lost.  
  
---  
  
The darkness was pressing in from all sides now, but noone had the time to worry about it. Comet couldn't help but notice it though- he kept turning his head to stare out at it, a little edgy. Zite asked him what he thought he was doing, but got no reply.  
  
He got sick of being ignored rather fast, and kicked Comet's side, yelling "Answer me, damnit!"  
  
No response. It took him a few seconds to see that Comet was trembling.  
  
"...Comet? *shakes his shoulders* "  
  
Still nothing.  
  
He immediately flew around him to see what he was staring at, but only got more perplexed- there was nothing there. Zite turned his head- and was greeted by a face he barely recognized.  
  
The skin was a good shade paler than he remembered, covered in beard of sweat, dilated pupils accenting the strange look. But it WAS Comet, lips trembling as he mumbled/whispered something in a rushed quiet. When Zite was finally able to discern it, it came out as "Can't.....can't breathe..... dizzy....."  
  
By now they had fallen behind the others, who hadn't even noticed them missing. They realized it when a scream echoed across the water.  
  
---  
  
Katass' ear twitched. {{Huh?}} he thought to himself, {{It never does that. Unless-}}  
  
His thought never got the chance to come out, because at that moment he was pummeled by the full force of the wave. 'The children!' was his first impulse, and he clutched Ragnoroc tightly right before it sucked them under.  
  
The other children had only a second's warning to panic before it ran them down as well.  
  
---  
  
All alone in the darkness, only broken by the occasional streak of lightning, he flew, a thousand images of deaths he could do nothing to prevent burned into his eyes. Tritoch was scared out of his wits. And very lost. But being lost was better than being in that destroyed village- ANYTHING was better that being there.  
  
With a shudder, he shivered again, wrapping his arms around himself to try to stay warm. He was soaked to the bone, but too frightened to care.  
  
He'd wandered into a village about an hour ago, hoping to find help or shelter. All he found was dying flames and dead and dying bodies. And with no way to help, but too paralyzed to move, he had watched them all die.  
  
Tritoch eventually forced himself to run, but he was shaken. So when he sensed a familiar chi, his heart leaped, and he flared ahead at top speed, a faint ki trail behind him.  
  
---  
  
Swift stopped in mid-flight. "Hey, you guys hear that?" he asked, turning his head toward where the sound had come from.  
  
"Yeah. what was it?"  
  
"Dunno Arcos."  
  
"Where's Comet? And Zite?"  
  
Swift and Arcos both turned toward Frost, eyes wide. Arcos cursed loudly, slapping himself. "Oh WHY didn't I recognize it... that was ZITE!" he yelled, pulling his hand off his face and flaring up his ki as he jerked sideways, rocketing toward where the sound had been.  
  
Swift saw the movement, but not soon enough to stop him, so he just called out "You DUMBASS!!" before chasing after him. Bolt followed them almost casually, and the other two glanced at each other, shrugged, and went along.  
  
---  
  
He didn't know how long he'd been there, wherever there was. All he knew was that he was lying on something soft and wet. His head still ached from getting thrown around, and he felt a little sick. There was a strange feel in the air he didn't like in the slightest, but being unable to move, there was nothing he could do about it.  
  
Suddenly a speck of light appeared in the groggy darkness. Then something pulled the pressure off him, and he blinked at the sudden brightness. Finally he could see- the sky was a foggy brackish, the water (a few yards away- he was on a shore of some sort) was choppy, and clouds flew by quickly.  
  
There was a noise behind him, and he turned to see what it was.  
  
"Ragnoroc." it mumbled at seeing his face. Ragnoroc stared at Tritoch in confusion. Why was his friend crying?  
  
He asked, only to get no answer.  
  
---  
  
Tritoch ignored the question, walking behind him and kneeling by the body of his father. Katass had done his best for the children, right to the end. And Tritoch felt more alone then he ever thought he could.  
  
He didn't notice Ragnoroc's look of shock, or the tears that came down the little one's face. The only thing he knew was that all the other children, like his father, were dead, some of their bodies washed up on the shore. The deep purple blood he kneeled in was staining his clothes, but he didn't care. He saw the thunderstorm sweep in. He didn't care. He knew the lightning was going to come, and he was the tallest thing there. He didn't care. He knew it was about to-  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
CRASH!  



	43. Twisted

___Chapter 43___   
  
~~~NOTE- musical inspiration (for the re-vamping of this chapter) "Miller's angels", by the Counting Crows. ~~~  
  
"CALM DOWN!" Arcos screamed, slapping the older warrior across the face, waiting till Zite stopped yelling to repeat his question- "What's going on? And where's Comet?"  
  
Zite, chest visibly heaving for air, pointed a quivering hand down toward the water, whispering between shaky breaths and the liquid pooling in the corners of his eyes "Something was wrong- kept saying he couldn't- couldn't breathe- was dizzy- fainted- fell- too big- too fast- couldn't catch- in the water- gone. He's- gone."  
  
Arcos swallowed, closing his eyes in remorse, his voice hushed and hissed. "Not another one..."  
  
Something shiny reflected in the lightning flash, pulling Arcos' down-turned eyes to something clenched in Zite's fist. A small smile came to his face as he recognized the claw they'd asked of Porunga for his brother all those years ago, the little bone-hook that he'd worn with pride every day of his life. The smile disappeared when he saw the cord was torn, as if it'd been yanked on...  
  
The others got there quickly, yet asked no questions of the scene before their eyes. The silence told them everything they needed to know.  
  
But that silence was broken by.......  
  
Five heads turned to the sound to see one of their own, nearly doubled over with laughter.  
  
Swift gritted his teeth, scorn plain in his already-dark eyes. "And what's so damned FUNNY!?" his voice grated out, the questioning tone overshadowed by the emotion in his eyes flowing into them.  
  
"Your face."  
  
THAT was too much. Swift jumped forward, grabbing the offender's vest around his neck, and yelled, lip twitching on the side of his face "I swear, I'm going to strangle you with your damned bandanna if you don't stop!" as he shook him in violently in his tight grasp.  
  
The one at the end of Swift's fists was unfazed. With the same crazy smile he was wearing earlier, the look now in his eyes as well, he said "So, little 'leader' is mad at me?"  
  
"YES."  
  
"Oh Swift, you should see your face. It's precious."  
  
"SHUTUP."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You're loosing it, Bolt. Stop it now."  
  
"Oh no, I haven't lost anything. You just forgot what I'm like. You think I laugh because I'm happy?"  
  
That only brought an odd stare, and awkward silence. Swift almost jerkingly let him go, and Bolt smoothed his vest down as if nothing had happened. "I told you we're all going to hell, the whole damn world's going, because we're all screwed. THAT'S why I laugh, Swift. I told you that long ago. You just conveniently 'forgot', because you don't want to accept the truth. Remember?"  
  
Bolt finished brushing the dust off himself, and glanced up, that look still predominant in his swirled indigo-black irises, little light reflecting into the onyx pupils.  
  
Swift narrowed his eyes opened his mouth to protest, but soon enough closed it again, discovering he had nothing to say. Now that he thought about it....... Bolt HAD said... oh god.  
  
Bolt's smile twisted in the same way it always did, in that cockeyed, cockamamie smirk- but it just didn't look RIGHT anymore, Swift thought to himself, now remembering the thoughts behind it- and he sighed, holding his arms out to the sides with palms up as he said in a dry tone "Now, may we be going?"  
  
---  
  
Ragnoroc sat there, dumbfounded, staring at the char lines on the ground, at the smoldering corpse sprawled not six feet away from him, the one that had been a living, breathing being only moments before. It had all happened so fast.... A chill rose up his spine. He was alone now, the lightning still striking about. He glanced at all the bodies, shuddering as he recognized each one, each little face once so happy and full of life staring at him now with death's cold, terrified eyes. He quivered, wrapping his arms around himself and standing up, not able to bear looking at them anymore, just staring out into the nothingness of the dark, dark sky, Nameksei's tears splattering his face with his own as the storms raged overhead like angry gods. The scarred(in so many ways) child who's name was Ragnoroc turned his head to the sky, blinking back tears as the rain washed the blood and ash from his face.  
  
"Aecha?" he whispered, using the word he'd made up for 'sister' as his voice quaked, breaking constantly, "Where are you? I'm scared..... When will this all end?"  
  
He was answered very quickly, as a burst of lightning cut him down. It seemed less a punishment than an act of mercy though- as the whiteness enveloped him, he didn't feel any pain.  
  
---  
  
Swift felt sick inside. He'd tried to forger about Bolt's almost malicious nature, that such a creature lived inside the kind carefree person he'd come to know as his best friend, but now that was impossible to do. Of course, he'd probably be like that too if he'd been through what Bolt had, but... still! That was his friend! It wasn't... right for someone to be that twisted. It had been hard enough with Rager being like that, then Bolt's little brother had to go die, and screw up Bolt! Damn kid, it was all his f-  
  
Swift slapped himself, cutting that line of thought short.  
  
{{THAT was WRONG.}} he growled mentally.  
  
---  
  
Arcos was even more jittery. His big brother.....  
  
{{Damn, if HE'S dead, what hope does little 'ol me have?}} he mumbled internally, for one of the first times in his life on the verge of tears. He closed his eyes, just coasting along, but couldn't banish the ache in his heart, his head pounding along with it. Arcos plucked his turban off his head, his antenna arching out above his eyes as he sighed, dropping it into the sea.  
  
For a second he just stared down at it fall, watching it splash lightly and sink slowly below the surface. {{Like Comet did.... 'boom', 'splash', show's over kids, time to go home...}}  
  
He swallowed hard, ignoring the fact that he was crying, ignoring the fact that everyone had stopped and was staring at him, ignored the lump in his throat as he threw himself at his other brother, his body shaking with sobs that retched through his whole little body, only able to clutch Swift's vest and cry into arms that held him close for a long five minutes.   
  
---  
  
Zite's fiery temper was getting the best of him. Only the icy glare Ratal had shot at him had stopped him from trying to kill Bolt earlier, when that bastard had been laughing at his friend's death. OOH was he gonna pay for that later... His moss green aura twitched with an ember glow, on and off, like the way his hands curled in and out of their fists. Flant was gonna get his teeth shoved down his throat for that, and for once, there was no gentle Tern to stop him...  
  
As this stream of thoughts flowed through his mind he flew on blindly, only breaking out of his anger when something hit him slap-dab in the face. He jerked out of his mood immediately, jerking his arm back to blast whatever it was to oblivion..... and stopped.   
  
{{Oh no....}}  
  
Zite's now-pale face looked up, noticing out of the side of his eye that the others had stopped as well, but he wasn't paying attention. Below them was the outskirts of his village, HIS village, the place where he had grown up nearly alone before meeting the others, where he had tended the fields around his home lovingly every day of his young life, the place that had brought him to love such things... The tattered adjica petal fell free from his hand, floating to the barren, stripped ground stretching out for miles around him, the ground lying barren and dead.  
  
His heart died in his throat and as all his losses mounted in his mind, he felt like just dropping from the sky and letting himself crash right there till he'd land with a 'thud' and never have to see or feel that emptiness anymore, but when released his chi aura to do so, he didn't go far- jerking his glance over his shoulder, he saw quiet blue eyes staring back at him. Frost was holding him up.  
  
No words passed, but Zite pulled himself back and continued flying, the others behind him in a somber silence (save one, who chuckled something obscene under his breath).  
  
That was too much, and before anyone could restrain him, Zite screamed out a full-throated yell and slugged Bolt hard in the gut, breaking his ribs before Ratal pried the shaking screaming form off him.  
  
---  
  
Bolt didn't react very much to the sudden assault, besides a twisting of his face at the immediate pain, but when their sensei struck the shorter warrior across the head to chastise him for his actions, he merely watched with greater amusement than before. Those light brown eyes kept glancing back at him, lighting with rage, but he didn't attack him again.  
  
Bolt was still smiling. Inside he was laughing hard enough to make him burst. So what if he got jumped? So what if he died? They were all going to hell. No matter what, everyone would be going there eventually. Every one of their souls was damned to that dark eternity, none would be spared the wrath of their own dark sides in the end. The future was trivial anyway- all that mattered was now, for now was all they had.  
  
The others were all avoiding his eyes now- that only made the situation more asinine. But it wasn't tragic- nothing was tragic, that word didn't exist! Everything was just so damned funny, and he was the only one who could recognize it! Someone died? That's their problem. We're all gonna die eventually, what matters if it happens now?  
  
---  
  
Frost still felt lost inside. He'd NEVER been without his brother.... now, he wasn't sure what to do.  
  
If his eyes had ever looked faraway before, they did now.  
  
---  
  
The rain and winds were pounding when they reached the little archipelago- they'd hoped to avoid the place, because of the thunderstorm hovering over the area, but been blown that way by winds which cared for noone's wishes. As a charred scent reached their nostrils and they looked down, they decided they didn't want to be there for another reason.  
  
Bolt didn't even bother to comment this time- the others beat him to it anyway.  
  
You can guess where they were.  
  
---  
  
All eyes were on Katass, but there wasn't the customary silence. Upon seeing him, three of them (including Ratal himself) cursed out-loud and bolted down. Frost could only stare in drop-jawed shock, and Swift started crying. Bolt merely floated above them, smiling and shaking his head, making a clicking noise with his tongue, the same one would use to chastise a young child. Swift jerked his head at the sound and stared at Bolt in deep resentment, but one look back at the still form of his once-companion quieted him. Bolt could go screw himself right now for all Swift cared, nothing anyone said or did could upset him more than he was now...  
  
---  
  
Ratal had NEVER felt this sick in his life, all 234 years of it. The years of his people's exile had never brought such a feeling to darken his heart. That had been nothing compared to the emotion which he couldn't even put a name on for how deep it went, shaking the very foundation of his soul.  
  
He looked around him, at the fragments of so many lives, brushed out before they had even began. Then his mind flashed to the old scars of Shat, Cha, Ise..... Tern, Rager, Comet, Katass....... And Ishena's words- "We're dropping like flies..." It was happening again. All those he cared for, his friends, were dying suddenly, violently, and without even the slightest warning. "How many more will suffer before this is all over?" he hissed out in his mental voice, remembering the fight that'd just broken out, where one of those he almost considered his children had struck out at another. Violence begets violence, this was not going to end well...  
  
Then something started screaming in the back of his head, yelling at him that he'd forgotten something. He'd had TEN students, not eight.  
  
"....DAMNIT!" he howled, jerking up suddenly, his ki flaring up around him. The others, even Bolt, turned to look at him, confusion on their mournful faces.  
  
"Sire?" came a voice from behind him, tinted with more than it's usual temperamental tone. He glanced Zite standing up in the corner of his eye, the man saying "What's wrong NOW?"  
  
"I've got to go back."  
  
"WHAT?!????!" the four of them shouted at once. Bolt just watched silently, interested with this new development.  
  
The dark templar narrowed his eyes slightly at the looks they were giving him, which ranged from cynical, to confused, to terrified, and clenched his fists as he said "Oboe and Damaiou- I left them behind. I HAVE to go back and get them!"  
  
"You know you'll die." was Bolt's emotionless response. Ratal turned to look at him, floating above and to the right  
  
"I might. But I have to. As their teacher, it's my responsibility."  
  
"We're your students too." he replied, smiling again as he crossed his arms.  
  
Ratal stared him straight in the eyes and said "They are still children, just hatchlings. I must do what I can for them. You are my students, yes, but you're older, more experienced. You have a chance. I trust that even your twisted mind can comprehend 'honor', Flant."  
  
Bolt was the first to break off, turning his head and clenching his eyes swiftly to avoid the gaze that bored straight through him. He didn't look back up until Ratal's aura was just a spec on the horizon once more.  
  
---  
  
Arcos sat on the shore, head on his hands, staring out at the water. It just wasn't fair....  
  
The sky was still dark, indigo clouds swirling overhead, occasional streaks of lightning the only source of light between the turbid green sea and sky. But as the outside islands in the archipelago were getting the worst of it, their spot was fairly calm. Yet that was more than made up for by the turmoil going on inside them all.  
  
Soaked to the bone, his neck ruff and antennae drooping, with a distinct pout on his face, Arcos was a truly pathetic sight, crouched down on the beach with head in hands. But he didn't really care. He was just pissed off about how unfair everything seemed. He'd lost two good friends, a big brother, another friend who'd been like a brother, and now his sensei had left him to fend for himself.  
  
Just. ****ing. Wonderful.  
  
He didn't respond when someone took a seat next to him, only turning when he recognized Frost's voice saying "Seems bad, doesn't it?"  
  
Arcos nodded.  
  
"Well, there's nothing we can do about the past right now. We have to think of the future. And we've got to stay alive."  
  
Another nod, slightly less half-hearted.  
  
"I know, Frost." he mumbled from his spot, "But... I just don't find myself caring after loosing my brother. It sucks."  
  
He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked to see understanding shimmering in Frost's usually silent, ice eyes. Then he realized the idiocy of his statement, and hid his face, embarrassed.  
  
{{Ok, he is NOT the one to complain about that to, dumbass!}} his head yelled, causing him to hide it further between his knees.  
  
"Get up, Arcos." Frost said quietly, pulling him up to look at him, saying "It's ok, I know you didn't mean anything."  
  
Arcos glanced up, and smiled slightly as he sat back up. "Sorry. Forgot you did too."  
  
"Hey, I said it was nothing."  
  
"Alright. Just saying."  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes, and Arcos opened his mouth to speak, but when he looked to his left to do so, he stopped dead.  
  
"Oh shit-"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Arcos choked on his spit for a second before shouting "CYCLONE!!!!!!"  
  
  
  
  
  
~~NOTE~~ Sorry the chapters have been so short lately. I'm trying to decide whether to type them shorter and coming out sooner, or longer and coming out less frequently- your feedback on that would be welcomed.  
-  
Oh, and where have all my past reviewers gone? A couple new people have come in, but all my previous ones have seemed to disappear. Your feedback is truly appreciated, and the comments you make help me decide how to tweak the story, since I'm already re-writing the original as I'm typing it (in my copybook right now it's only at page 117, which is a stark difference from what you see here). Well, that's all for now. ciao! ~~  
-  
Chapter 43, re-vamped on 11/15/01. Expect more work to be done on act two soon.~~ 


	44. Heartbreaker

___Chapter 44___   
  
Frost was just about relaxed when Arcos had turned to speak, but stopped.  
  
The cry of "cyclone" got him quickly UN-relaxed.  
  
---  
  
Swift had been sitting by a tree stump, talking to Zite about everything that had happened when the call went out. His head jerked around automatically, and he was running before he even knew it, grabbing Zite by the neck ruff and half pulling/half dragging him away from the blue-green water spout that was barely a quarter mile away.  
  
"Hey, hey! I've got LEGS, Swift, I can run on my own!" Zite called out from behind, backhanding the arm that was holding him.  
  
Swift let go, and stopped briefly to catch his breath. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his little brother and Frost run up by them.  
  
"Hey, where were you two?" asked Zite as he re-arranged his ruff.  
  
Arcos was panting, but flashed a peace sign to say he was ok. Frost, chest heaving only slightly, nodded  
  
"Well, let's go on now, shall we?" Arcos asked when he caught his breath. "Since we're all here and accounted.... shit."  
  
Zite cocked an eye, but glanced around the four of them and shutup when he realized who was missing. He was about to say it, but Swift beat him to it-  
  
"Where's Bolt?"  
  
---  
  
Bolt had heard Arcos' cry, had noticed the four run off, had seen Zite punch Swift to get him to drop him, had seen the other two reach them...  
  
But he made no attempt to follow them. And he didn't intend to attempt it.  
  
Instead, he turned toward the thing that had inspired so much fear in his comrades.  
  
"What's to be afraid of?" he said to noone but himself, "You may run, but you can't hide. When the dark lady wants you, there's nowhere you can run to get away from her."  
  
So as the water spout came closer, the wind started to swirl around him, the waves brushed over the land, all the forces lancing forward at the island, he only uncrossed his arms, and held them out, laughing so hard he was crying.  
  
Or vice-versa.  
  
Suddenly the full force of the elements slammed against him, taking his breath away. For a few seconds, it was a pain beyond imagination. But that faded, like the rest of the world around him, until there was nothing left...  
  
And for the first time in years, Bolt was at peace.  
  
---  
  
As suddenly as it had appeared, the cyclone disappeared. Literally. Within fifteen seconds of swallowing Bolt, it absolutely collapsed into a rush of water that drained back into the sea.  
  
Swift, who had bolted (no pun intended) when he saw his friend was still behind them, got socked by the residual wave and pulled under. It dragged him to within thirty feet of the shore, but then his claws caught a tree and the water went out without him.  
  
Too preoccupied to think about that, once he could stand he was off and running again. But what he found served no purpose but to confirm his fears.  
  
His hand shaking, he knelt down and felt for a pulse. Nothing.  
  
He was too upset even to cry.  
  
Bolt had been his best friend ever since they'd been born. He remembered what he'd been like before the accident, during the five days the kid was dying and noone could do anything about it, when they'd tried to wish him back, only to be told it was impossible...  
  
THAT was when Bolt changed. But it went away again after a while, and Swift forgot. Everyone forgot. Even Bolt. But all that death around him must have affected him, bringing up his only defense- his twisted indifference.  
  
"Aeco?" said a voice a few feet away. Swift pulled his head up, his vision distracted by a series of sparkles that blocked it.  
  
Arcos leaned forward and hugged his brother tightly, whispering "We have to go now."  
  
"W-why?"  
  
"Because, we've got to do our best to stay alive now. And father's probably worried about us. Not to mention that SOMEONE has to tell him about Comet, and the little ones."  
  
"Katass-san too."  
  
"Yes, him too." Standing up, "So, do we go now?"  
  
Swift nodded. "But first..." he reached down, picking Bolt's bandanna up softly in his fist, and wrapped it around his forehead.  
  
Arcos smiled, and the two of them blasted off, followed by the others.  
  
---  
  
The trip didn't get any easier after that. Once they breached the higher islands that made up the outside of the archipelago, there was no more shelter of any kind for them.  
  
So not only did they get the full force of the storm itself, they also were no longer sheltered from the devastation it was bringing upon their people. It was depressing, but they all knew that to stop to help would only result in their deaths along with those of whom they tried to aid.  
  
Their minds were firmly set on getting out of this alive, which meant getting to Sanchiro-sama's tower. Even though it seemed the most dangerous place to go to a logical mind, being a small, high pillar of rock, there seemed to be something about it, an almost holy aura, that kept it a place of safety and security.  
  
But they weren't safe yet.  
  
---  
  
The storm was only getting worse as it went on. As they soon learned, there was more to the dangers than just the storm itself.  
  
Arcos was the first to find that out, when a TREE that had gotten ripped out of the ground came flying into him, knocking him unconscious on impact and hurtling him into the wave-churned sea.  
  
Swift saw it happen, being right behind him, and nearly had a heart attack when Arcos get tossed into the water. Without a second thought, he plunged in after him.  
  
---  
  
The first thing Swift noticed was how quiet it seemed, but that thought flew from his head as he suddenly realized the cold, the biting, stinging, ever-present cold. The water was murky in every direction, no light shining from the surface to tell him where he was in it all. And nothing made sense anymore- up was down, right was left, this way was that way..... but where was Arcos?  
  
He felt so cold, like it went straight to his brain, mushing thoughts together in ways that didn't make sense, and the way the turbid environment was so quiet only adding to his confusion. But the temperature made him feel faint. It was so cold, so cold, so-  
  
---  
  
The next thing he knew, he was lying on the grass, coughing his guts up, head spinning with flashes of color and light.  
  
"HELL?" Swift screamed, before choking again, spitting out more sea water as he tried to regain his breath.  
  
{{Wait... I'm breathing? I'm still ALIVE?}}  
  
Finally he got his vision back, and saw Frost's back a few feet away. Swift reached forward, about to tap him on the shoulder and ask what was going on, when a sound he'd never heard before echoed throughout the air. It was haunting, yet..... beautiful. And coming from.....  
  
"Frost?" Swift whispered, confused.  
  
"Yes?" he said, turning his head.  
  
Frost was SMILING.  
  
---  
  
Swift found he couldn't speak for shock. He had NEVER seen Frost smile, in all his life. Not once. And that noise.... had he been....   
  
Arcos popped up from behind Frost, smiling broadly. "Hey, Frost said you went in after me! Are you NUTS, Neru????" he said, using his brother's nickname.  
  
"ARCOS!!!!" Swift yelled, suddenly discovering his voice again as he bumrushed his little brother, nearly squeezing the life out of him in a hug. "You were dead! ~I~ was dead! What happened?"  
  
Arcos shoved the headband over his aeco's eyes, and when Swift pulled it away, he saw Arcos pointing at Frost. "He saved our lives, both of us. Seems HE knows how to swim."  
  
Swift glanced back at Frost, and remembered his earlier questions. "Frost... I heard this weird noise when I woke up, and I was probably delusional, but I think I saw you smiling."  
  
"You weren't." was all Frost said, an amused look in his eyes.  
  
Swift's jaw dropped, but Frost continued, saying as he put his hand on Arcos' shoulder "This little guy gave me quite a scare back there. I couldn't find a pulse or anything for about twenty seconds, but then he woke up."  
  
"And I made him SMILE!!!" Arcos chanted out, raising his arms in victory, "He even LAUGHED!!! I feel so... fulfilled!"  
  
Swift smirked, and tried not to fall on his backside laughing, but lost. His ear twitched at something missing in the air, and he jerked his head up, looking around. Then he knew what it was, and whispered "Where the hell is Zite?"  
  
Frost sighed, and said "I don't know. He was there when I went under after you guys. When I surfaced, he was nowhere to be seen."  
  
A thin stream of purple ran down Swift's lip from where his fang had punctured it. {{I shouldn't be surprised.... The little guy never was that strong.....}} He absentmindedly wiped the blood off on the back of his hand, cringing as he glanced at the dark smear. {{Like ENOUGH blood hasn't been spilled already....}}  
  
---  
  
After another hour of dodging death, they finally glimpsed the light at the end of the tunnel- they were in sight of Sanchiro's tower. And all three of them, though worse for their wear, were still alive. It seemed things were finally looking up.....  
  
But this isn't that kind of story. Only a 1/2 mile off, a huge wave reared out of nowhere to come before the. Tsunami! They turned around to avoid it, but ran right into another!  
  
And another!  
  
They were surrounded on all sides by the waves, and to go higher was to risk being struck down by lightning.  
  
The three looked around, helpless, and in a last-ditch attempt, Frost ricocheted up, trying to get above the water, Swift and Arcos right behind him.  
  
But the two couldn't escape in time, and disappeared into the sea.  
  
---  
  
An hour passed, with no signs of life. The storm faded, and pulled back to reveal three suns in the sky. The land was stripped and fractured, crevices like open wounds showing plainly against the barren earth. The green sky held only the occasional yellow cloud, and the sea lapped calmly at the shores of the islands, breaking peacefully over the beach of Sanchiro's tower.  
  
Then.... something else hit the sand. A dark, limp form was washed up. Swift. No movement at all came from him, dead still. But he wasn't.  
  
Not yet.  
  
Upon regaining consciousness, he jerked up suddenly, ignoring the pain signals from his shattered body as he stared out at the now calm landscape. Seeing he was in a shadow, Swift looked up. Sanchiro's tower. He had made it home.  
  
Then he looked back at the sea. Along the beach and in the air. He was alone.  
  
His brothers, his best friends, his sensei, the younger siblings he never even got a chance to know, Katass, all those innocents, all the others. Dead. There wasn't a sign of life on the whole damn planet.  
  
That's when the survivor's guilt struck. Why did HE live, instead of all those others- Tern, Rager, Comet, Katass, Bolt, Zite, Frost, Arcos, Oboe, Damaiou, Ratal, the other kids (he didn't even know their names), all those poor villagers....... why?  
  
There was too much in his mind, and Swift's thoughts were spinning rapidly, irrationally. It was just too much, an overflow of emotions, and then it all just stopped. His mind shut down, and he collapsed to the sand, in a coma.  
  
Sanchiro walked up the beach, staring sadly at his son, the only other one of his people to survive their apocalypse. "Swift, poor child. Our world has gone mad around our ears. But I won't let you die, son. If you did, what would I have left to live for? Poor child. We are all alone in this world."  
  
And with that, Sanchiro lifted up Swift and went slowly back up to his tower.  
  
  
  
  
~~~NOTE- *sighs* The end of that story, back to Oboe and Damaiou now. So, is anyone interested by my take on namekian history? There are some inconsistencies, yes, but that's to be expected. Leave any comments you might have about my take on things in a review, if you wish. Or, if you'd like, you can plug your own namek fic! *laughs*  
-  
oh, and if any of you didn't recognize the name "Neru", you can either look it up on your own, or wait another couple chapters for me to explain. Ciao! ~~~  



	45. Don't go away / Goodbye for now

___Chapter 45___  
  
Damaiou opened his eyes, and immediately they met Oboe's. He was about to cry, but he saw an understanding in her that stopped him.  
  
She knew how he felt, and didn't say a word, just handed him her doll and held his hand.  
  
---  
  
The rest of the trip was uneventful (except for the fact that Oboe's second dream wouldn't let up). That is, until about five weeks after their initial take-off.  
  
---  
  
Oboe awakened from another dream of death that wasn't death, shaking. After checking her surroundings for tails with fangs, she stood up and brushed the sweat off her forehead with her blanket.  
  
Suddenly the silence in the cockpit was broken by a deep, droning noise, causing Oboe to jump and screech "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!!!" She braced herself, but when nothing happened she cocked an eye and looked around. The noise came again, but from a definite direction, and when she got to the source of it, she discovered-  
  
"Damaiou!" Oboe scolded, slapping his head so hard he went tumbling off (what would be considered) the captain's chair. "Don't DO that! Do you have any idea how much you scared me?"  
  
Damaiou, who had rolled over backwards against the wall, thought out-loud "What did I do? I was asleep!"  
  
"You couldn't have been asleep. Noone can snore that loud naturally!!!"  
  
Damaiou only stared blankly, and before Oboe could stop herself, she was laughing. It didn't help her to stop when his eyes started going out of focus because all the blood was rushing to his head either. Finally he got the sense to roll over and sit up, but he fouled that at step one by barreling right into her, knocking them both flat on their asses.  
  
They both started cracking up then, Oboe nearly in tears. Damaiou managed to stand up by leaning against the window- he was still dizzy from being upsi-down too long. When he could finally see straight, he sighed, and glanced outside. The little namek's eyes widened, and he tugged on Oboe's shoulder. "Hey, look! What's that?"  
  
She peered at the little blue sphere in the distance, shrugged, and said "Ask the ship."  
  
"........."  
  
"*bops* No, not like that, baka! I mean ask the computer! *points at it* "  
  
"That's a COMPUTER? I've been putting my feet on it..."  
  
"*mumbles* Why do I even bother...."  
  
Oboe sat down, and opened her mouth to speak to it when she looked outside. And stopped. {{Who cares about where we are.... it's beautiful!}}  
  
The little planet was a swirl of blue, white, and green, almost a little like her own home, but distinctly different. Stepping out of the seat, Oboe practically flattened her face against the glass gawking.  
  
But soon that overall view was reduced as the ship drew closer to it's destination- a huge area, totally barren of anything but mesas and canyons with only the hardiest mosses and lichens growing in sheltered corners, giving it the appearance of the end of the world.  
  
Damaiou, playing with the computer, muttered irritably "What the hell is a 'Yunzabit'?"  
  
"What? Where'd you pull that word up?"  
  
"Yunzabit heights is where we're gonna land in about fifteen minutes. Might as well read what they've got here on it." He began reading the paragraph aloud, but halfway through, stopped cold, his face pale.  
  
Oboe pulled away from the window, putting a hand behind her head as she asked "What's wrong?"  
  
"It... says this area is prone to random, sudden, and destructive storms." he mumbled, white knuckles clenched on the top of the computer. Oboe was silent, her blue eyes shaking.  
  
"S~s~STORMS!!!" she shrieked, panicking.  
  
Damaiou jumped up and held her tight, yelling "Calm down! It's ok, it's ok, calm down." Oboe, shivering, didn't answer.  
  
Of course, she didn't really get a chance to, since at that moment the ship was buffeted by hurricane-force winds that sent it spiraling out of control.  
  
They were thrown violently against the hull, Oboe screaming as Damaiou bit his lip to remain silent.  
  
Oboe was still screaming, but stopped when she felt Damaiou's breathing was erratic. Glancing around, she saw his eyes were as large as hers- but he hadn't made a sound. Ashamed, she kept her mouth shut.  
  
Instead, she asked "What do we do? I'm.... I'm scared."  
  
"Me too." he whispered in a raspy tone, clearly terrified. Then his nose crinkled up- "Blood? Who's.."  
  
He stopped at that moment, because he got his answer. When they'd gotten thrown, his claws had caught her arm and drawn a long, decently deep cut down it, about six inches long. She hadn't noticed it yet in her fear, but she would soon.  
  
Before that could happen, Damaiou pulled off his vest, ripped some strips out of it, and wrapped them around the wound  
  
"Huh? Why'd you do that?"  
  
"You were bleeding."  
  
"...You didn't need to do that- I could have healed it."  
  
Damaiou glanced away. "Oh... yeah. Forgot." NOW he felt stupid.  
  
"But that was sweet of you. *smiles* "  
  
Damaiou looked back up, surprised. Then her face went quiet and she said silently "Damaiou, we have to get out of this thing before it hits if we want a chance."  
  
He nodded sullenly, and called out the password to open the door as he clenched her hand and moved toward their exit. "Now, don't let go, whatever you do."  
  
Oboe nodded, looking out into the darkness beyond the ship. But then she glanced back at Damaiou next to her, staring at him. She didn't know why, but had a feeling that there was something she had to do before they jumped, something that couldn't wait, but something she didn't understand. So when it came time for them to go, all she did was grip his hand tightly as they plunged into the open air, with a half mile of air to the ground.  
  
---  
  
Several hours later, a pair of sapphire eyes opened, their wearer awake in a strange place. Huge trees (at least, she THOUGHT they were trees) that she had never seen the like of before surrounded her, blocking out the sky. Moaning, Oboe slumped up, bringing her arms around herself and noticing something on her right arm. {{How did this get t-}}  
  
Suddenly she thought of Damaiou and jerked up, screaming his name into the night. The only response she got was the haunting echo of her own voice. Oboe tried to remember what had happened when they leapt from the ship, but that was only an eternity of screams and winds and fear. Then an image flashed into her mind- a huge gust blowing her away from him, and his distraught voice calling her name out after her as he disappeared into the distance.  
  
Oboe shuddered. {{Might as well figure out where I am...}} she thought to herself as she stood up and began walking in what looked like the right direction.  
  
---  
  
After about four hours, she was hopelessly lost, freezing and dehydrated. Suddenly she collapsed from exhaustion, her mind reeling between consciousness and death. While looking forward, she noticed something she noticed something she hadn't before- a little creature that blended in almost perfectly with the groundcover.  
  
{{Like the one in my dream...}} But then her thoughts were cut off by the scream that split her lips as it struck forward, digging it's fangs into her arm.   
  
Things proceeded as they did in her dream, and the last thought in her mind before blacking out was {{Where are you Damaiou?? Damn my life sucks.}}.  
  
And then all was silent. All was still.  



	46. Everybody hurts(sometimes)

___Chapter 46___  
  
~~~-Five Centuries later-~~~  
  
The forest was quiet that morning, but not for long, as a chorus of birds began singing, one by one adding their voices. The night was done, the sun was risen, what could be a better reason to rejoice?  
  
Their calls were not welcomed by everyone, though. In a small, moss-colored room, a lump in the bead moaned, throwing a pillow out the window and yelling "SHUTUP!!!!!!"  
  
Her aim was better than she'd thought, and a 'squawk!' echoed out from the tree beside the house. The shape pulled the covers away from it's head, revealing long raven hair and eyes. A smile crossed her face, and she jumped out the window.  
  
The second story window.  
  
But she hit the ground just right, and walked unhurt to the squawking quail that'd been trapped under her pillow. She plucked it out from underneath, fingering it's funny head-feather thing.  
  
"'Kassan! I've got us some extra breakfast!" she called out as she ran into the house.  
  
---  
  
After finishing her bread, grapes, and toasted quail, the girl yawned, said 'Arigato (thank you)!', and went into her room to change.  
  
Five minutes later she came back out, decked in a red kimono-esq. dress which split at the belt, revealing loose black pants trimmed with gold. Glancing in the kitchen, she saw the semi-short redheaded woman washing dishes, and called out "'Kassan, can I go for a walk?"  
  
"If you get me some of those cassia berries while you're at it Yen, we're running out!" her mother called back.  
  
"Arigato, 'kassan!" Yen laughed as she raced outside. Two seconds later, she ran back in. "Forgot my other bracelet!" she yelled as she ran up the stairs, coming down the steps as she fitted it on her wrist, racing back out. Before the door could even close all the way, she reached back in, grabbing the canteen from the rack by the door as she went back out. Her mother, in mid wash, blinked twice and started laughing.  
  
---  
  
The red-dressed girl nearly floated through the forest, across paths she had traveled a hundred times. But no cassia berries. With an irritated groan, she tapped her canteen on a tree, pouting. If she didn't come back with those berries, she'd be in trouble. But there WERE none....  
  
Yen sighed, and walked off her trail. She had to find those berries, and knew she could find her way back.  
  
---  
  
After an hour she got aggravated again, and while swinging her arms out to yell "Why me?" her canteen went flying from her hand into the bushes.  
  
"Shit!" Yen moaned, running after it.  
  
The damn thing had flown pretty far, almost six yards, through thick bush, to land on a game trail that had long since gone unused, covered in vines and brambles, mosses and shrubs and groundcovers of all sorts.  
  
Yen barely bothered to look around, focused on picking up her canteen and getting those berries, but something shiny caught her eye.  
  
She glanced toward the distraction, but her pout disappeared behind a giddy grin as her hand darted down to pick up the bright, black hoop, pure onyx.  
  
With sparkles in her eyes, she twirled the earring in her hand, absolutely elated. "So... pretty... I wonder where the other one is?" she said, glancing around.  
  
When a first look check produced nothing, she narrowed her eyes, and looked again. Still nothing.  
  
"Heh... so THAT'S the game you're playing... hiding under the plants!" she laughed to herself as she held out her left hand, producing a quick chi blade. "Well... take this!" and with that she grabbed the blade with her other hand and began cutting away the undergrowth.  
  
---  
  
It was tiring work. Forty five minutes, and she had barely made a dent in the stuff. Some of the vines were so old and tough, they had to be at least a hundred years old, probably older. It didn't take long for her to get pissed off and start blasting the stuff (only to weaken it, not enough to ruin the other earring)  
  
A satisfied smile came to her face as she glimpsed a glittering in another pile of vines. She grabbed for it, but couldn't pull it loose of the green tangle. With a scowl she began pulling the vines away at rapid speed, her limbs blurring they were moving so fast. And when she'd gotten enough away to see the earring more clearly..........  
  
"Oh holy SHIT!"  
  
There was a GIRL there. A......... _green_ girl.  
  
---  
  
EEK.  
  
Yen stared in fascinated shock as she cleared the rest of the plant material away from the body, which was a bit too much to have been put there recently. So it wasn't like someone had killed her and thrown her there, there was a SERIOUS amount of things growing over, under, across, and all around her- she'd been there for a while.  
  
Besides being green and all, she was rather pretty, and looked about Yen's age. But Yen's eyes were locked on that earring. {{Should I.... or shouldn't I?}} Her hand moved toward the black hoop in the girl's ear, pausing. {{She obviously can't want it... But that would be stealing.... Ah damnit, who cares? It's obviously dead, so it can't worry about that silly thing}}  
  
Reaching forward again, she latched her hand around the hoop, and pulled.  
  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!"  
  
---  
  
Oboe felt a sudden jolt of pain and snapped her eyes open. The first thing she saw was a young girl, with pale skin and black hair. And three eyes.  
  
Then they both started screaming.  
  
But before long Oboe started choking, her throat as dry as dead wood.  
  
Yen forgot all about earrings and was off and running immediately, but then she heard it, and turned around. The girl looked so.... pathetic. {{Ok... what now?}} she whispered to herself, on the verge of biting her nails. {{Damn conscience.....}}  
  
"Hey, um...... you thirsty?" Yen asked, edging back with her canteen in her outstretched hand.  
  
The girl only glanced up, perplexed, like she didn't understand, her antennae perking up on her head at an angle.  
  
"Water. You want some?"  
  
Still nothing.  
  
Yen was about to go off when the girl made a frantic noise, and began talking in what sounded like a language, but not one the triclops could understand.  
  
"Um...... I don't understand." Yen restated, shaking her head.  
  
The green girl sighed, but then perked up, and pointed to her mouth, pretending to make a noise.  
  
"Speak? you want me to talk?" Yen asked, mirroring the move.  
  
The girl nodded, smiling.  
  
---  
  
Oboe closed her eyes as the three-eyed girl started babbling about whatever, searching her mind for what Ratal had taught her concerning languages. By twisting a mix of knowledge, ki, and psi, he's helped her set up a system where, if she just listened long enough, she could understand any tongue.  
  
So, about fifteen minutes into Yen's one-sided conversation, Oboe asked in perfect Japanese "Ok. Where am I, who are you, WHAT are you, and am I alive or dead?!?"  
  
---  
  
Yen jerked up, shocked. "How'd you do that?"  
  
"Something I learned." the girl said, stretching her arm and yelping when she felt how stiff it was.  
  
"You're in the woods a couple miles from my village, my name is Yen, I'm a triclops, and I'm pretty sure you're alive. Same questions for you, minus the first and last, and how old are you? You look my age."  
  
"14. My name is Oboe, I'm namekian."  
  
"Huh? never heard of 'em. And 14?? Nah, you're 10."  
  
"14."  
  
"10."  
  
"1- wait.... I don't know how long I've been here... And if my thoughts are correct, your year is three times as long as mine."  
  
"So that makes you *counts on fingers* FOUR?"  
  
"I think."  
  
"NO WAY YOU'RE FOUR! *slaps self for being so loud- the Oboe girl had cringed* Ok, let's say you're ten and end it."  
  
"*nods* ok."  
  
"How'd you get here, anyway? Why were you laying there like that?"  
  
Oboe fell silent.  
  
".... did I say something wrong?"  
  
"No, it's just...... I don't know what happened to my friend who was with me. We were landing in some 'Yunzabit' place when a storm started. We had to jump for it, and were separated. I haven't seen him since. *sighs* I hope Damaiou's alright...."  
  
Yen nearly stopped breathing then, and stared in shock and.... fear?"  
  
"What? What's wrong?"  
  
"Y-you said-d D...Damaiou, right?"  
  
"Yes. So?"  
  
"That was the name of the *swallows* great demon king who nearly killed us all not too long ago. *thinks* Come to think about it, he had the same strange features as you."  
  
"WHAT THE HELL????????!?!?" Oboe screamed, veins nearly popping out of her head. "I can't POSSIBLY believe that!!! He's not like that, he's-"  
  
Then it struck her. What he had said a long time ago- '...Sanchiro said I have alot of evil in me. More than a normal person should. And I guess that's coming out now....'  
  
A quick look at the plants that had been growing over showed her she'd been there for at least four centuries, maybe five. And since she doubted the same that had happened to her happened to him, he'd been awake all this time. Could knowing he'd lost all his friends and family, and thinking he lost her, have done the same to him as it had Rager? Could it drive him mad like the silver-eyed warrior?  
  
.....  
  
Yes.  
  
---  
  
With that realization, Oboe slumped down onto Yen's shoulder and cried.  
  
Yen could kind of understand. How anyone could ever love... *shudders* that demon, she couldn't comprehend. But loosing a friend of yours, and then to learn they'd changed beyond your belief, that she understood. She'd been only four when her nine-year old friend went off without saying goodbye... When she's seen Tienshin next, he was older (too much to be natural), a warrior, fighting a demon.  
  
So she could understand how her new friend was hurting. Everybody hurts.  
  
---  
  
Six years later, the girls had left home, and gone adventuring all over their area of the world, telling their tales to each other and coming across new ones to tell.  
  
"It was business as usual when we saw ki-blasts in the air. I didn't know who it was back then, but now I can identify them as you Vegeta, and Son Goku.  
  
"Yen and I were excited out of our minds, but then Goku went ssj and blasted Veggie with a kameahmeah that hit him at an awkward angle and sent him spinning into the ground. That's when we noticed the others.  
  
"Yumcha, Chautzu, Krillan, and Gohan were standing and laughing. Goku landed next to the crater Veg made, asking if he was ok. And there were two people he plowed into when he crashed, but we couldn't see them 'till they got out.  
  
"The first to do that was Tien, who laughed off getting hit. The other one was cursing Vegeta with every foul word I've ever heard, and a couple I hadn't." Oboe said, near the end of her story.  
  
Privately, she added {{And I said to myself- this guy has an attitude problem! But I liked it. I was wishing I could meet him before I ever saw him.}}  
  
"Then Piccolo pulled himself up, and that's when I first saw him. We never met face-to-face until about three months later. And you know the rest from there."  
  
Oboe glanced around at the four of them, and added "I once heard Kami-sama say that in his youth he would often search Yunzabit for a sign of some sort." Blinking back invisible tears, she swallowed and finished- "He wasn't searching for a sign. He was looking for me. Damaiou still cared about me, even if he couldn't remember me."  
-  
---  
_____END OF ACT 2_____  
---  
-  
  
~~~NOTE- ok, on to act three now! I've decided, instead of doing like I did in the book and wrapping up quickly, I'm going to take time to get the dragonballs, because that'll give me the chance to work with the other two groups- the rest of the Z-senshi, and Piccolo + Kami's rendition of WW2. (Yup, as I said, your reviews really mean something to me- chikyuu's comment on liking the situation made me realize I hadn't done enough with it.) I'd put more Pic + Veggie stuff in here if could, but that's not really possible. *sweatdrops*  
-  
And a note to Sab-chan - Yes, we're on act three now, and...... MINE!!! *cackles, runs away with bishy* ~~~ 


	47. Rain

___Chapter 47___  
  
The tension was mounting. He could practically feel it. They'd been there for almost twelve days now. And nothing could quell Piccolo's rage.  
  
Kami sighed to himself, leaning on his staff as he glanced out the little window. He was staying inside whenever possible now, because of an 'incident' that had occurred a couple days back-   
  
~~~~~~~  
  
The day after their first fight on the planet, Kami had decided he had to say something to the child, and ventured to look for him. It took a while, but eventually he spotted a white shape behind a tree, and walked around it to reveal Piccolo, in deep meditation.  
  
With tears on his face.  
  
Kami knelt down, slightly shocked to see him like this. Without thinking, he took one of his hands off his staff and, with the back of his hand, brushed the wet streaks off the younger namekian's face.  
  
Instantly Piccolo's eyes snapped open, and when he realized what was happening, his mouth turned into a grimace and he screamed "GET OFF ME!!" as he lunged for the old god.  
  
Kami had raced off in the opposite direction by then, shaking. He'd sworn he'd heard a ki blast behind him.  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
So now he only sat there, watching the rain drip down the window, his eyes silent, the dreary landscape reflecting that of his soul.  
  
---  
  
Up on the lookout, everyone was busy with the reconstruction. Well, was suppose to be, anyway.  
  
Yumcha was getting tired of driving the damn materials around while everyone else was doing the 'important' work- putting the stone back together. Dendea, who lived up there most of his time, had transferred all of his knowledge of it's construction to the others, and was now trying to get some well-earned rest under one of the few trees left standing.  
  
Everyone else was on construction- except Yumcha, who was driving the truck.  
  
Well, not EVERYONE else- Puar was running around, relaying messages, and the non-fighting girls were preparing lunch. But... still!  
  
"I don't WANNA drive the stupid truck!" he yelled, punching the dashboard. But by accident, his other hand twisted when he did, turning the steering wheel.  
  
---  
  
Tienshin was tired. He'd been moving most of the heaviest fragments, being the largest since Piccolo was gone, and had just sat down on one of his 'charges' to rest when a sigh come from his left.  
  
Without too much concern, he turned to see little Puar, her hair drooping from the heat (remember what I said in chapter 1- she's in the human form). With a smile he called out to her and waved.  
  
She looked toward the sound, and laughed out "Tien! Hello!" as she ran over to him. Just then, Yumcha's truck hurtled through where she'd been standing five seconds ago, screeching to a halt as it toppled over on it's side.  
  
Tien's eyes nearly doubled in size as he watched it, and he raced over to the little cat woman, asking her if she was ok. She was startled, the hairs on her tail standing on-end, but alright. Then he ran over to the truck to check on Yumcha.  
  
---  
  
Work came to a halt as everyone dropped what they were doing and flew over to the toppled truck. Bulma got there first though, trying to rip open the driver's side door as she screamed his name.  
  
Goku got a hold of her though, and yelled "Calm down Bulma! Let us get it, you'll just hurt yourself!"  
  
"What if he's hurt in there! Let me get the damn door, damnit!"  
  
Their argument was silenced when the door threw itself open and the said scar-faced man stepped out, only a couple bruises and cuts from the shattered glass.  
  
Even Son couldn't hold Bulma back then, as she pushed out of his arms and hugged her old friend tight, on the verge of tears. Then she slapped him.  
  
"What the hell was going on there!?!?" she yelled, hands on her hips.  
  
Yumcha, rubbing the sore spot on his face, glanced up at her furious cerulean irises and swallowed, mumbling "I.... lost control of the t-"  
  
He didn't get the chance to finish before her might came upon him in the form of every curse, hex, insult, and such she knew. The others walked off when that started, laughing. Well, it was nice to see HER back to normal.  
  
So Yumcha got to do the work he'd wanted in the first place, and Ranchi took over a new truck.  
  
---  
  
Vegeta had expected a story, but this was quite a tale. He'd never guessed that she'd had hardship, let alone something that bad. {{How the hell does she stay so happy after all that shit...}} his mind puzzled, and the first word out of his mouth when she finished was "Damn....."  
  
Gohan nodded respectfully. He had a good idea what she'd been through being alone, because of his little half-year sojourn in the valley surrounded by desert.  
  
Lute was just staring blankly, shocked. This was too much for his little mind.  
  
Only Muuri was totally silent.  
  
"Why so quiet?" she questioned.  
  
He looked up at her, and said "I never knew that you had left. I was afraid that you had died with all the others."  
  
She nodded gravely, kneeling and wrapping her arms loosely around him. He held her back, and a sense of security came over her that was only equaled by that of her father's presence (which she could feel, to an extent, in the little elder), and the kind of safety she felt when wrapped in her love's soft embrace.  
  
Then she stood back up, choking slightly on the lump trying to form in her throat, and asked "Speaking of the others, whatever happened to Swift?"  
  
"He survived, little one. *smiles* "  
  
Oboe's irises flared as she nearly jumped on him, asking   
"What? Tell-me, tell-me, tell-me!"  
  
Muuri laughed and responded "About three decades before you awoke, Sanchiro-sama was able to awaken him. From that day on, Swift would always stay by my predecessor's side, protecting him in times of danger, even against the tyrant Frezia, and was the only one of our people not to be killed during those turbulent times."  
  
Oboe's eyes lit up, and in a voice that was more of a childish squeal, she insisted to see him.  
  
"No, my child. I am sad to say that a short while ago he was killed."  
  
"By who? Tell me right now, so I can kick their ass! *growls* That dirty little-"  
  
Raising a hand to silence her, he said "Oboe, Swift was killed by Kartak."  
  
".... huh?" Oboe mumbled, in flat shock, "You can't mean..."  
  
"Yes I do Oboe. Swift is Neru."  
  
For a few seconds, noone said a word. Oboe just stared blankly. Then she passed out.  
  
  
  
  
  
~~NOTE- first, if any of you haven't caught it by now, Neru was the Japanese name for Nail. Yep, you read that right. Dendea's big buddy, the one who fused with Piccolo in that oh-so-oddly dubbed episode.  
-  
I'm assuming they have rain on Kaio-sama's planet. We never saw any in the series, but it makes a nice touch, so I'll give the place some. I also had Kami call Piccolo "child" in there, which may sound weird at first, but should become understandable once you remember the huge age difference between the two.  
-  
Oh, and one last thing- in accordance with JJ's question, yes, I'm not very fond of V/B romance, since it's favorite pastime is making Yumcha a sleaze. I'm rather fond of the guy, and after watching Dragonball, I can't really comprehend why she left him for Veggie. Well, everyone's got their own opinion, and they're entitled to it, but I think scar-face gets an unfair hand in it all. ciao! ~~ 


	48. What makes you bleed?

___Chapter 48___  
  
~~NOTE- ok, every time I type Dende's name nowadays, I keep spelling it without the 'a' and since I'm getting sick of having to go correct it every time, I'll just type it Dende from now on. And ten points to whoever can guess where I got Goten's second statement! //.^ ciao ~~~  
  
  
With a sigh, a pair of dark eyes opened, and as he stood up + stretched his arms, Dende knew he was bored. Construction was going nicely, with no problems after Yumcha got the job he wanted, but... still.  
  
It was boring now that he didn't have anything to do, and since he had his strength back, the stillness was starting to get to him.  
  
The feeling didn't last long though, as something behind him he hadn't noticed before jumped him. Dende opened his mouth to scream, but a hand covered it quickly.  
  
---  
  
Noone said anything, just stared blankly at the unconscious namek lying on the ground. Gohan knelt down, and poked her head, asking "Hey... you ok?"  
  
Oboe's antenna perked up slightly, and she pulled her eyes open to a hazy set of faces staring at her. Then she remembered what had been said, and jerked up, grabbing Muuri by the collar and demanding to know why Swift had changed his name.  
  
Muuri, slightly shocked by how fast she'd reacted, said "Because he needed no more reminders of what had happened that day. And Neru was a nickname of his, the last thing any of his friends called him. He did it as a matter of respect."  
  
Oboe listened, but her brain was preoccupied with more that Swift. Now that she knew there was more at stake than before, she really wanted to get on with the dragonball hunt.  
  
So the four said goodbye to the old namekian, and walked back out into the light.  
  
---  
  
The air around the lookout was shattered by an ear-piercing scream, and before they knew what was happening, the Z-senshi had broken out into their fighting positions, eyes latched toward the place the sound had come from.  
  
Another sound followed the first, and "HEY, YOU BIT ME!!" echoed out across the area in the form of a familiar voice belonging to a certain purple-haired 'wonder boy'.  
  
"Well, what was I SUPPOSE to do, you scared the living daylights out of me!!" Dende shouted back.  
  
"Yo, Yo!! Calm down guys!" yelled Goten, waving his arms frantically and standing between the two. Trunks and Dende still narrowed their eyes at each other, but their annoyance quickly turned to laughter as Goten said "Guys , guys! I've got two words that will solve all our problems here- time share!"  
  
"Ok, what did you two want anyway?" Dende smiled, choking back a laugh.  
  
Trunks smiled as he handed the young namek his hand, saying "Fix first, talk later. You've got sharp teeth, you know that?"  
  
Before he could finish his statement, the wound was healed, and Dende merely said "You move quietly when you want to, you know that?"  
  
So that conversation was dropped, and the three friends sat down in the shade, watching the work progress.  
  
---  
  
The silence was nearly deafening, with no other living thing in sight, rain falling from yellow clouds in the (usually) pink sky, which had gone red behind the sheets of mist. He was drenched to the bone, cape clinging to him like a second skin, and his real skin gleaming with the moisture. But Piccolo didn't care. He liked it this way, with noone to interrupt him in his meditations. He was used to it as well, after all those years spent in solitude.  
  
Only one thing was bothering him now- and a low growl emanated in his throat as it came to mind- Kami. Why was that old bastard pestering him? Couldn't he just leave him the hell alone? {{No, }} Piccolo growled to himself {{He has to make my life hell, and he can't do that by leaving me be, can he.}}  
  
He lapsed back into meditation, but was broken out of it with a sneeze. Piccolo just 'harumph!'ed it off, wiped some of the water off his forehead, brushed his cape over his shoulder, and lapsed back in.  
  
---  
  
Oboe blinked at the sudden brightness, but her eyes adjusted quickly, and she found herself staring out at the namekian wilds, with only scattered villages to show civilization. A broad smile lit her face, the happiness that the place brought her almost making her laugh out loud. But the thought of Piccolo brought her back to earth, and she resumed her disguise.  
  
"EEK!!" shouted a voice behind her, and she turned to see Lute, lying on his back (he'd tripped), eyes wide. His mouth was moving, but no sound came out.  
  
With a sigh, she knelt down, and whispered "Lute, I have to use this form. I don't want to think about him either, but I've no choice."  
  
"A.... anoco?" Lute mumbled, still in a mild state of shock. Oboe was about to speak, but then Vegeta burst in.  
  
"No baka, it's not Piccolo. He's DEAD, remember? That's your mother transformed. You shouldn't act so stupid, you SAW her transform, remember?"  
  
Lute's wide eyes went normal, but a hurt look crossed his face, and he looked away. "Vegeta!" Gohan shouted, "Don't be so hard on the-"  
  
Gohan stopped, though, as Vegeta's head snapped backwards, Piccolo's fist imprinted firmly in his face. "Don't," she whispered harshly, "mock my son. Alright? I can pretty well kick your ass in this form, especially because I'm damn pissed off." Vegeta didn't reply, just stared at the red mark on his face, and Oboe reached down, grabbing him by the collar and screaming as loud as possible "AM I UNDERSTOOD???"  
  
The sayian's eyes flared open at the pure force in hearing Piccolo's voice slammed in his face at such a volume, and nodded weakly. Oboe dropped him, and strode forward a few steps to stand at the cliff edge, forcefully suppressing her flared aura.  
  
Gohan swallowed hard, holding a bewildered Lute on his shoulder, noone saying a word.  
  
---  
  
Five minutes later, the four of them were flying, Lute included. Noone dared challenge Oboe's decision right now, she wasn't in the mood for it.  
  
{{Maybe some of your attitude is rubbing off on her, namek.}} Vegeta thought silently, rubbing his bruise. He sighed, letting his hair whip in the wind with his eyes closed. {{Piccolo, she's absolutely insane. The two of you are perfect together.}}  
  
And for the first time in a long time, Vegeta genuinely smiled.  
  
---  
  
Wiping the sweat off his brow, the black-haired man moaned, yelling to his partner "This is HARD!"  
  
The partner, who was busily carrying the other end of a block of stone that weighed nearly fifteen times what he did, glanced over and yelled "Hey! Hold your half, will you Yumcha? I said before this isn't easy, you had it good in the truck."  
  
Yumcha quickly put his other arm back up, but sighed, and grumbled " I know. I had AIR CONDIONING, for god's sake! Air conditioning! And here I am, sweating my ass off! *sighs again* Well, at least I'm getting some exercise doing this, I'm sick of getting left behind and beaten into the dirt first whenever I'm in a fight."  
  
Tien nodded to him, indicating they leave the slab there, and with an "oomph!" they dropped it. As Goku thanked them and grabbed the brick with his ki, they turned around and jogged back to another spot to get the next chunk, Tien talking as they went. "I know the feeling, Yumcha. I wasn't much help in that fight either, if it makes you feel any better. Remember the old days, when we could spar off against Goku and have a chance?"  
  
Yumcha laughed, and pointed a finger toward where the girls were, saying "I'm out of breath. Let's get some sake. I heard Yen's brought some of hers up, and that it's pretty damn good."  
  
Tienshin gave him a look, but shrugged, saying "Just one. Ok?"  
  
Yumcha nodded, smiling broadly.  
  
---  
  
Half an hour and twenty-two shots later, the two were back on the job, still tired and hot, but not complaining as they raced back and forth.  
  
---  
  
It was dreary inside. The rain had been going practically straight the last week, mist and fog hanging in blankets around the little planetoid. And the old god sighed, staring out the window once again.  
  
"Is this weather something of your doing, Piccolo? Is this hatred of yours enough to spill out of you and paint the sky in blood?" he whispered to himself. Kami-sama stood, pressing his hand on the glass as he asked himself "What makes you like this still? You've changed so much, child-of-mine, but you still hate me so deeply?"  
  
Then he shook his head, turning his back on the outside. "I don't understand you Piccolo."  
  
He felt something pull on his robes, and glanced down to see Bubbles, looking up with a sad look to his features. Kami smiled, and picked up the little simian, patting it's head. "And what do you want?"  
  
Bubbles pointed to the cabinet.  
  
"Oh, can't reach it, can you?"  
  
Bubbles nodded.  
  
"Alright, I'll get you something." Kami finished, setting the monkey down on the counter while he went to the cabinet.  
  
---  
  
Gohan busied himself, as he had earlier, with watching the landscape fly by below him. Soon enough, though, flying with his head down got him in trouble, because when Oboe and Vegeta stopped, he didn't, and went barreling right into them.  
  
Oboe merely shot him a 'oh boy' look, but Vegeta kicked the halfling in the stomach, yelling "Hey, watch it!"  
  
Gohan held his waist, one eye narrowed slightly from the pain, but he pushed it out of his mind and asked "So, why'd we stop, Oboe?"  
  
"Don't call me that."  
  
"Hmn?"  
  
"Think- it's a risk to my cover we can't take. Just call me by his name."  
  
"...oh. Ok Oboe- Piccolo."  
  
"Better. Now, what were you saying?"  
  
"Um... oh yeah! I was asking why we stopped."  
  
"*half-smiles* Well, you were looking down so long, I thought you'd notice. But we've reached the first village. We out to find the 'sushinchu' here."  
  
"The four star ball?"  
  
"Yes." And with that, Oboe dropped down to the ground, the others right behind her.  



	49. Stories

___Chapter 49___  
  
It was tranquil in the village, most everyone busy, save a few around outside. Five young children, no more than eight (namekian), were playing in the town center. And on a rooftop watched three adolescents, sweating and breathing hard after a long day of sparring.  
  
The first, in long blue pants and a neck ruff, with his short black vest thrown over his shoulder, laughed and crossed his arms behind his head, saying "It's always so quiet around here, why can't something happen for once?"  
  
"I dunno, Osu, that's how it always is in the village. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" asked the second, brushing the dust off his red gi, making sure the black writing on the vest wasn't marred or ripped too much.  
  
"Ah, calm down Hiku, that vest isn't the most important thing in the world!" laughed the third as he took a drink from his canteen, purposely spilling a bit on the object in question.  
  
"CHUI!" Hiku yelled, slapping the purple-clad boy over the head with his vest. Osu just watched and started laughing. Chiu stood up, ready to spar again, but tripped on his cape and fell flat on his face. Then they both started laughing, joined in by Chui shortly.  
  
"Hey, get off the roof you three!" yelled a voice from inside, and Hiku quickly jumped off, followed reluctantly by Chui.  
  
"Always have to do what anoco says immediately, eh Hiku?" asked Osu from the roof sarcastically, getting an annoyed glance from Hiku.  
  
"He said to get down Osu, we should listen to him. He IS our father, after all."  
  
"I'll get down when I'm ready."  
  
"*shrugs* Whatever. I'm not the one who's gonna get punished with water gathering duty the third time this month."  
  
Osu ignored the comment, and kept staring up at the sky as the other two sat down below the hut to get out of the sun. The sun... Now that he thought of it, it WAS pretty bright... but he could have sworn he saw dark spots up there. The young namekian shrugged it off, but his eyes were distracted by it once again. They'd moved.  
  
Osu sat up, narrowing his eyes and looking straight up into the brightness. Then he was certain- there WAS something up there. Something alive. Osu worked his eyes as hard as he could, but he just couldn't see it, the best he could tell was that there were four somethings, two smaller than him, one his size, one bigger. And they were heading toward him, not away.   
  
He wasn't quite ready to panic, though. He wanted to be a warrior, and warriors didn't panic. But then he saw one of the shapes that was smaller than him clearly, from it's blue training suit to the black flame of hair on it's head. And screamed.  
  
---  
  
Vegeta watched out of the side of his eye as the namek panicked, loosing it's balance and falling to the ground with a 'thump'. He saw the other two, petrified in fear (whether it was at seeing the blue one fall or him, he wasn't sure). But Vegeta didn't do anything, just sat there.  
  
---  
  
Hiku had been wondering why his aeco had been so quiet, but then the scream came, and Osu crashed to the ground right in front of him and Chui, causing him to jerk his head up and notice the sayian-jin, standing not twenty feet away.  
  
Hiku froze.  
  
He'd heard the older warriors talking sometimes, about the sayians. He'd never believed the 'horror stories', though- they were just made up to scare little nameks. But all thoughts in his mind came to a halt when he saw those cold, dark, cynical eyes turn toward him.  
  
His vision was jerked to the side though, when Chui yelled "MONSTER!!!" and rushed straight at Vegeta.  
  
"Chui, NO!" Hiku shrieked after him, too frightened to move as he saw the white-clad figure shoot past. He didn't go far though- about three feet away, Vegeta's hand shot out faster than his eye could follow, catching him by his throat in midair.  
  
"Bakas." the short man muttered, glaring at his captive. "Can't keep from rushing headlong into a fight, can you? You're all just like him. *sighs, closes his eyes* "  
  
Vegeta's attention was drawn away from the terrified namekian, though, when another kicked him in the ribs, yelling "Put the kid DOWN, dumbass!"  
  
The sayian complied, turning his head, and he nearly started laughing when he saw Piccolo's exasperated face glaring back at him. The laughter shut itself quickly, though, as he remembered who was behind the mask, and he looked away.  
  
Gohan landed right after Oboe, sighing and shaking his head. "You really screwed up this time, Vegeta."  
  
---  
  
Osu and Hiku stood there, speechless. Right there, standing not twenty feet away from them, was.......  
  
"AAAAHHH!!!!" was the only warning the three travelers had before Oboe was nearly knocked down by the two wide-eyed teens.  
  
She just stared blankly at their bright faces, and was halfway through mumbling 'What the hell...' when they both cried out "SUGOI!!!!!!!!", and smiled broadly, staring up at the tall, confused namekian in purple with pure joy on their faces  
  
"Hey, what's going on here?" she managed to spit out, before they chimed it simultaneously with "Are you Piccolo-sama?!?"  
  
"....Yes...."  
  
" *gasp* You're the namek who fought the tyrant Frezia and survived???"  
  
"....Yes...."  
  
Vegeta stared blankly as the two's eyes grew even larger (A feat he hadn't thought possible), and couldn't help but crack a smile when they both cheered "YOU'RE OUR HERO!!!"  
  
Then the one he'd dropped snapped out of his trance, and this time Oboe WAS knocked to the ground, the third one yelling "You saved my life! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"  
  
"We're training to be warriors, you see" Osu said, still grinning like crazy, "and some of the adult warriors were talking about Frezia one day, and they said about you, how you fought him at half strength, and you were kicking his ass, until he cheated, and that you are the greatest namekian warrior of all time and we all want to grow up to be just like you!"  
  
"..." was all Oboe had to say, but them she muttered "...Who are you people?"  
  
"I'm Osu, and this is my brother Hiku. That's Chui."  
  
Gohan stared, and muttered "Did he just say their names are push, pull, and caution?"  
  
Oboe rolled her eyes as she stood up (assisted by all three teens) and stated plainly "Stop thinking in Japanese. They're namekian, they have namekian names."  
  
"Oh... ok." Gohan said, laughing briefly to hide his embarrassment as he flashed off the classic Son grin and scratched his head.  
  
"WHAT'S GOING ON OUT HERE!??!" came thundering a voice from inside the closest house as the door was thrown open, revealing a very flustered namek dressed in near-black green robes. He didn't look that old, but did at the moment, with his face creased in fury.  
  
Chui swallowed, and yelped "I didn't seal the door shut, I swear!" as he jumped behind Oboe, whispering "Save me!"  
  
Oboe glanced with narrowed eyes at the boy, but turned to the elder and, bowing respectfully, said "I'm sorry for the disturbance, sir. The four of us have come with permission from Muuri-sama to try for the dragonball found in your village."  
  
"Four? I only see three of you."  
  
Oboe cocked an eye-ridge, and glanced around. Lute wasn't there. With a roll of her eyes, she called out "Lute, get DOWN here, now."  
  
"Ok anoco!" he called out, dropping from the sky to land beside her.  
  
Osu and Hiku's jaws dropped right there, and they mumbled "Your.... He's your DAD?"  
  
Glancing over at them, Lute put on a smirk and nodded vigorously. The two promptly facefaulted. Within a second they were back up, asking the emerald-eyed child a hundred questions at once. Chui was still buzzing around 'Piccolo'.  
  
The three teens shutup when the elder called them off, a hint of annoyance in his voice, and they retreated to a distance.  
  
"So," asked the elder, glancing back up, "What were you saying? I'm sorry for their actions, if they've caused you any trouble, they'll be punished. My name is Takusan, by the way. I'm the elder of this village."  
  
Gohan smiled, saying "Well, they're a bit overly-energetic, but there's no harm done.", shaking his head.  
  
Takusan nodded, and asked "Who are you, by the way?"  
  
Before anyone else could respond, Chui and the others simultaneously yelled "You baka! Can't you tell? It's the half-sayian Son Gohan, the sayian-jin prince Vegeta, and the greatest namekian warrior ever born, Piccolo-sama!!"  
  
Oboe did a double take, and muttered "S.. sama? Honorables aren't necessary, just call me by my name." That was a mistake though, because upon hearing their hero tell them they could call him by his first name, their jaws dropped.  
  
Before they could speak again, Takusan whirled on them, practically roaring "ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH OUT OF YOU! GET INSIDE, RIGHT THIS _INSTANT_!", and they fled to the safety of the hut. He regained his composure in a second, though, and bowed to them, saying "It's an honor to have you in our village. Is there anything I can do for you?"  
  
---  
  
Still a bit shocked from the change in his voice, Gohan just stared, but Oboe filled in, stating "We are on a quest to gather the dragonballs. Son Goku was killed in a fight for our sake, and we wish to revive him."  
  
Vegeta cocked an eye. "But you already said-" He was briskly cut off by Piccolo's hand slapping over his mouth, and Oboe yelling in mind-speech 'It's namekian custom, baka. I know what I'm doing.', silencing him. Then the two began a dialogue that was older than the both of them, with Oboe answering Takusan's questions.  
  
"I know of this. So you come seeking life, not death?"  
  
"Yes. The sacred relics shall be used for life."  
  
"The trials are not easy. They shall test you, body and soul."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Not all succeed, many fail."  
  
"I know."  
  
"Where shall you drawl your strength?"  
  
"My honor. I swore to him I would do this."  
  
"What else?"  
  
Oboe stalled for a second, trying to think of how to phrase the next part without giving anything away, but came back quickly with "My heart. I will protect those important to me."  
  
"Are you to be trusted?"  
  
"Muuri-sama has said me so."  
  
"More important that the words of another are those of your own soul. What does your soul tell you, warrior?"  
  
"I can do this. I must."  
  
They stopped, neither saying a word for what seemed like an eternity, faces drawn silent as well. Then Takusan smiled, nodding. They'd passed the test. 


	50. Fever

___Chapter 50___  
  
For the third time in the last hour, Piccolo was snapped out of his meditation by a sneezing fit. With a flurry of irritated curses he jerked up, letting out his anger on whatever was closest (the tree), and storming away, leaving the sap to dribble from the five deep gashes he'd left in it.  
  
The namekian's eyes were narrowed in fury at this point. "Goddamnit! Can this get any damn worse? Now I'm not *sneezes* even aloud to fu- *sneezes* -ing concentrate!! This has to be that old bastard's doing!"  
  
Piccolo smirked, not even paying attention to the fact that he was shaking or couldn't see straight. "I KNOW it's that bastard! It's got to be!"  
  
Then he started laughing, and charged his chi to jump into the air and blast off, but never got the chance, since at that point he collapsed to the ground, unconscious, the rain pelting his already soaked form.  
  
---  
  
In another place, the sun shone a bit more brightly, beating down on the people below. The wind didn't seem merciful either, as it refused to blow or offer any sort of condolence to them in the form of relief from the heat. For most of those below, it was torture.  
  
*Goten shoves his head in front of the screen* HELL YEAH!! *Goten gets knocked away, and starts complaining, only to shut up by Trunks and Dende smacking him upside the head*  
  
Both: Stop it with all the hot air! We're sweltering already!  
  
But for two, who's had a BIT too much sake....... (note- they're still working while they're talking)  
  
"Hey, Tien! Do you like horses? I've always wanted to ride one while I was a bandit, that would have made me a REAL desert prince!"  
  
"That does sound interesting... why didn't you ever try it?"  
  
"Because I'm afraid of horses."  
  
"Then why in hell were you just talking about them?!?"  
  
"Because it would be cool."  
  
"But you're afraid of horses you just said!! Why would you want to ride one through the desert?"  
  
"Chicks like horses! And then I would be able to find one who wouldn't leave me for some egotistical troll man who doesn't really give a damn about her or their kid!"  
  
"........ It always comes back to Bulma, doesn't it, Yumcha?"  
  
"*sighs* Yeah.... Well, I miss her. We were like THIS *demonstrates by twisting two of his fingers together* !"  
  
"I know, I know. I was there, remember? I don't get it either, but I've heard alot of those rumors flying around that you kept chasing other girls."  
  
"I was young, every guy does that at that age! And it's not like she didn't drool over every nice guy she saw either! We both knew what the other was doing, but it wasn't too severe an issue, since we were doing the same thing! She just uses that excuse now so she doesn't have to tell me the truth."  
  
"You've... got a point there. Um.... how about a topic change- Piccolo's kid!"  
  
"Oh, yeah, his name's 'Lute', right?"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Damn... were you as shocked as I was?"  
  
"I don't think so, because while I'm just an ally to the guy, you could almost call yourself a friend! How the hell did you manage THAT?"  
  
"*shrugs* Well, I guess through Krillan. And how the hell did that midget manage it, anyway?"  
  
"How am I suppose to know? But If I made a guess, it would have to be that Gohan convinced him to get to know Krillan better, and his strange brand of humor did the rest. *shrugs* "  
  
"Maybe. *shrugs* But hey, let's get some more of your lady's refreshments, shall we? She makes some KILLER sake, the best I've ever tasted. Why didn't you ever tell me about it sooner? We're buds, aren't we?"  
  
"Well, I've never actually had much of it before, and I just forgot..."  
  
"*laughs, slaps the triclops on the back* Then amend for your sins by getting us some more booze!"  
  
".... *shrugs* whatever."  
  
---  
  
"So.... what now?" asked Vegeta, unfolding his arms to brush his hair out of his face before re-folding them.  
  
"Don't you KNOW??" yelled a voice from inside the elder's hut. Osu had opened a window and poked his head out, eye-ridges drawn, and he continued in a matter-of-factly tone with "Tell him, Piccolo-sama!"  
  
"Yeah, show that sayian, Piccolo-sama!" yelled Chui as he poked his head out the other window. Hiku's hand appeared behind Osu, set in the 'V for victory' sign.  
  
Takusan growled, and was about to reprimand the trio when Lute spoke up, saying "Aw, go easy on them, sir! It's not their fault they're awed!"  
  
Takusan stared at the child briefly, the look on his face asking 'What the hell? Are you serious?', but Lute merely grinned and flashed a peace sign, laughing. The elder just rolled his eyes and buried his face in his hand, muttering "I'm too old for this, but too young as well. Ah, damn it all."  
  
"Um... sir?" Gohan questioned, glancing over in confusion, "Are you ok, sir?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." he murmured without a second thought, but then he looked up, smiled, and leaning on his staff stated "Well, which of you shall be doing the first task"  
  
Oboe opened her mouth to speak, but was preceded by another voice behind her saying "Me."  
  
---  
  
Kami watched in amusement as Bubbles tore through the tomatoes he'd given the little simian, who them yawned and fell asleep on the green man's lap. Even though it was pouring outside, the little house was warm and comforting to the old god.  
  
Bubbles and Gregory had been staying inside with Kami since the rain had started, but Piccolo's presence was the main reason. Neither one of the 'lackeys' was rather fond of the younger namekian, and with his temper at an all-time high, they wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.  
  
Kami-sama smiled at the little creature resting on his lap, and stroked the fur on it's head as he hummed something softly to himself. A glance out the window affirmed that it was still raining, but the sky was no longer red, which puzzled him. Instead it was a deep, sickly brackish-gray.  
  
"What are you doing now, child?" he murmured, only half paying attention to the outside as he absentmindedly scratched Bubbles' little brown head. Then he stopped.  
  
Something was wrong.  
  
Kami stood up, making sure not to awaken the little simian as he sat it down on his chair and opened the door to the outside. There was a strange feeling in the air, one he didn't like in the least. And something was definitely wrong.  
  
Into the outside he plunged, walking carefully as to not trip into one of the mud puddles that'd formed. Even though he had good vision, he was as blind as a bat within a few seconds in the murky haze surrounding the planetoid.  
  
The god swore softly as he slammed right into a tree he hadn't seen, and pulling one of his hands away from the trunk to wipe his face, discovered fresh sap dribbling down it. Another look revealed five deep gashes cutting almost straight through the wood.  
  
"Piccolo." he whispered to himself, a slight frown on his face. {{He was here... but where did he go?}} Kami took a few steps forward, and nearly tripped over something else in his way.  
  
"What in blazes is-"  
  
Then he stopped dead.  
  
Lying on the ground in a soaked, unconscious heap, a good two shades paler than usual, his cape strewn around him like a bird's broken wings, was the young namekian man.  
  
---  
  
Piccolo was totally unaware of anything going on around him, his mind in a muddle from the fever. All those hours exposed to the elements had begun to take their toll on him. Otherwise he would have fought like hell when Kami knelt down by him or lugged him over his shoulder. He wouldn't have allowed himself to be taken inside the Kaio's house, have his drenched clothing removed, or be laid in a bed. He certainly wouldn't have stood for Kami sitting nearby, watching over him. But Piccolo's mind was feverish, and he could do nothing to stop any of that from happening, if he even knew it was happening at all...  
  
---  
  
"You, Vegeta?" Lute asked, craning his neck to look up at the sayian's face from his seat on the ground. He craned it a bit too far, though, and fell over flat on his back with a little 'oomph!'  
  
Vegeta had to fight not to crack a smile as he reached an arm down, helping the child up as he said "Yes, I am. *looks up* So, what do I do?"  
  
Takusan watched with interest the changes on the sayian-jin's face, but most importantly in his eyes, the windows to his soul. What he saw there made him smile, and he only nodded, saying "That I-"  
  
But once again, he was interrupted mid-sentence, and whirled to see Hiku standing next to him, poking his shoulder. Before the elder could react though, Hiku whispered something in his ear.  
  
When he was done, Hiku ran back to the hut with a smile, jumping on the roof and watching the other two climb up with him.  
  
Vegeta stared blankly, but before he could ask what the hell was going on, Takusan turned around and continued speaking like nothing at all had happened. "As I was saying, that I can do for you. All you have to do is-" 


	51. A matter of pride

___Chapter 51___   
  
~~~NOTE- If anyone's been confused by what I mean when Yumcha and Tien are talking about 'sake', it's Japanese rice wine. ~~~  
  
  
Vegeta was infuriated. They couldn't do this to him!! THEY COULDN'T DO THIS TO HIM!!!!! This was stupid! This was pointless! They couldn't make him do this, he was a KING damnit!   
  
{{Then why are you doing it?}} sneered a voice in the back of his head.  
  
Vegeta was about to open his mouth to growl, but mentally slapped himself, stopping the action as he remembered he couldn't move or speak.  
  
{{You could have done it your way. You didn't have to listen to the brat, the child, or the woman. You could have just taken the dragonballs and killed anyone in your way. But no, you had to play fair, and now you're standing in the middle of some village of idiots like a damned statue and balder than the day you were born!}} the voice yelled, seeming to laugh out that last part.  
  
{{Oh SHUTUP!}} Vegeta mentally screamed in protest, {{Leave me the hell alone! Like I had a choice?}}  
  
{{Yes you did! You had the choice to do this the same way you did it while searching for immortality! But NO, Vegeta's gone soft, he can't even kill a bunch of idiots to get what he wants!}}  
  
---  
  
Gohan sipped his drink politely before setting it down and asking "So, what is this again?"  
  
"It's a tea, made from adjica leaves." answered Takusan as he poured a cup for Oboe, Lute, and then for himself before sitting back down, "It's about the only thing we'll drink besides water, but it's almost never made, except for very special occasions."  
  
Lute glanced down at his cup, eyeing the contents as he said "So, what's the occasion?"  
  
To his left, Oboe face-faulted, startling the child into getting his nose dunked into his cup. The look of pure befuddlement on the emerald-eyed boy's face, compounded by the dripping tea, was too much for Gohan, who promptly cracked up.  
  
"OW, HOT!!!" Lute yelped after taking ten seconds to notice the temperature. He promptly jerked around, grabbing a fistful of Oboe's purple gi to dry his face off, spurring a sudden round of protest from the 'towel'.  
  
Takusan waited till the two were finished bickering before he raised a hand for silence and said "As if my boys and Chui tackling your father weren't enough to alert you to the fact, you're well known around here."  
  
"Oh." Lute mumbled, "Wonder why?" For ten seconds noone spoke, just stared at the child in shock. "Kidding, kidding!" he retorted, waving his arms in the air.   
  
---  
  
His little mind was racing like usual as he patrolled the room, searching for snacks as he went. Suddenly his nose twitched.  
  
{{FOOD!}} it yelled, and he went scampering over the table, grabbing a cookie he'd left sitting there and gobbling it. This procedure was repeated until he'd eaten three cookies, and plopped himself down on the tabletop, waving his tail in happiness while licking crumbs off his fingers.  
  
Then his nose picked up a new scent. It was strangely familiar, yet too different to be anything he knew of...... but then what was it?  
  
Curiosity won over hunger that time, sending the bundle of fur scampering through the hallway into another room.  
  
---  
  
"EEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!" was the cry that first attracted Kami's attention away, but he didn't have the time to look for the source of all the noise before Bubbles came at him in the form of a fuzzy missile that latched onto his right arm, quivering.  
  
Kami was a little more that surprised, but he hid it well, stroking the hair (which was standing on-end) on the monkey's head until it laid flat, and he unlatched it from him as he asked "What is it, little one?" Bubbles replied by making a little 'ooh' sound and pointing to the pale green shape lying on a cot on the far side of the room, which shifted uneasily as if in reply.  
  
"I'm sorry, Bubbles. He'll be staying in here for a while, there's something wrong with him that has to be fixed" Kami said, as if speaking to a small child. Bubbles gave him a strange look, his eyes saying what his mouth couldn't- he didn't understand how a dead person could get sick, and why would it matter anyway? It's not like they can die again.  
  
"That's where you're wrong." Kami replied, siting the simian on the ground and squatting down next to him before continuing with "You can get sick, and you can die. I know, I know, stop giving me that look, I'm not crazy. I've never seen anyone get sick when they were dead before, but once or twice I HAVE seen them die. It-"  
  
Before the god could continue, Bubbles broke into a shrieking fit, and Kami had to force him to sit still. "Hey, let me finish! As I was saying, it's more a spiritual thing than something physical. Sometimes, when a person dies, their soul is in such a great state of unrest that it shuts itself away from everything and everyone else, refusing to be reasoned or forced to do anything but dwell on that which pains it. And it fades away into nothingness. It's a sad, sad occurrence, but I've seen it happen, as I said. And when that happens, there's no way to bring them back."  
  
Bubbles stared up in amazement at the wrinkled, olive face with kind eyes, and babbled on a little more. Kami laughed, replying "Well, I'm glad to see you're so concerned about me! The answer is I don't know. If he died like this, I might not be able to come back, but since it's a rare thing, I'm not completely sure. For some strange reason, I think I probably could be revived still. But that's not the point."  
  
Kami-sama stood, leaning on his staff with one hand as he looked over to the unconscious form on the other side of the room, and continued   
"I'm not going to let him die, whether my life is at stake or not. He's still just a child, with his whole life ahead of him, friends and..... family, waiting for him back there. I don't care if he hates me. Not only is it my duty to protect all the life of earth, but in some sort of twisted way, he IS my son."  
  
The little simian nodded, and scampered off outside, where it had finally begun to clear, with more food for thought than he could really comprehend at the moment.  
  
---  
  
The sound of laughter was heard in the background, and Bulma rolled her eyes at the two making it. Turning to the triclops woman beside her, she asked "How come they're so cheerful? Everyone else is miserable in this heat."  
  
Yen just laughed and patted Bulma on the back as she said "It's the sake, Hon, the sake."  
  
Slapping herself for that oversight, she was about to say something when Videl popped her head in the makeshift kitchen, yelling "Hey, less yapping, more cooking! Lunch is in an hour, and I can't serve what I don't have!"   
  
"Huh?" Ranchi asked, "Why am I in an hour?"  
  
Videl bopped her soundly, a sweatdrop appearing on the side of her head as she replied with "Not YOU, Lunch, I mean THAT lunch!", pointing to the food on the table.  
  
"Oh..." Ranchi said, laughing to hide her embarrassment.  
  
"Now, all of you, COOK! These are hungry men, as you all know, you've known them longer than I have, you should be used to cooking enough for a small army!" Videl finished with a 'knowing' smirk, and nodded.  
  
"Hey, waitress!" called out a voice from behind.  
  
"COMING!" she shouted, running off.  
  
Bulma and Yen stared for a few seconds, but without another comment went back to what they were suppose to be doing.  
  
---  
  
The three teens were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Not only had they met their hero, but now they got to watch one of the subjects of their nightmares make a fool of himself.   
  
Another person, only a few wears older, watched the sayian in slight confusion, with a much younger child sitting on his shoulder who shrugged the whole thing off.  
  
Someone who was not who they seemed watched as well, eye-ridges furrowed, but face silent.  
  
A being older than the others stood outside, paying close attention to the prince's closed eyes, and the turmoil unfolding behind them.  
  
And Vegeta himself battled the deamons in his mind.  
  
---  
  
He glanced around at his surroundings, lost in the pure whiteness. "Where AM I..." he whispered to himself, jerking his head up when the sound echoed against the nothingness. A low growl escaped his throat when he couldn't figure out what was causing this, and he was about to just give up and scream when something behind him let out a soft moan.  
  
"Huh?" he asked himself upon seeing the speaker, his antennae perking up at an angle as he mumbled "Neru? What the hell are YOU doing here?"  
  
The other namekian man pulled himself into a standing position, and shrugged. "How am I suppose to know if you don't, you're the omnipresent one, remember?"  
  
Piccolo growled a warning, but Neru just smirked and continued "I'm that stupid 'kid' you fused with and tried to forget about, the one who's always in the way. But now, since you suddenly need h-"  
  
His statement was cut off when Piccolo threw a punch to his jaw, catching him off guard and connecting soundly. "SHUT UP!" he roared, clenching his fists until they bled before he could stop to collect himself, swerving around and turning his back.  
  
Neru just wiped the blood off his lip, chuckling as he said "You ARE one tricky little bastard.... *laughs* Caught me by surprise there..." Standing up, he brushed his antennae out of his face as he lowered into his fighting position and asked "So, it's a spar you want?"  
  
"Shutup." murmured the other namek, but his statement didn't have much feeling behind it. Neru recognized the tone, and stood straight.  
  
"Hey, something's wrong, what is it?"  
  
Piccolo, who didn't have the patience or energy to lie right then, just said "Oboe...."  
  
"Worried about her, aren't you?"  
  
"If you must know- yes. Her and Lute."  
  
Neru just smiled, and putting his hand on the shoulder of the person who'd become his other half, said "You're not the only one, ne?"  
  
Piccolo still refused to turn, but let his arched shoulders droop, and replied in his earlier monotone "And you would care why..."  
  
"Long story, don't bother yourself with it." he said softly "Let's just say we go way back."  
  
Piccolo's head jerked around, onyx eyes wide, and he was about to scream something profane when Neru yelled out "Hey, hey, not like that, not like that!!!", waving his hands. When Piccolo's features visibly calmed, so did Neru, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.  
  
"Then how DID you know her? If I'm not mistaken, you weren't alive when she was on Namek."  
  
"Actually, I was, and it's not Namek, it's Nameksei."  
  
"Whatever. Explain."  
  
---  
  
"Just SHUT UP, for the love of god, shut up!!" Vegeta's mental incarnation screamed, collapsing to his knees and clamping his hands over his ears, trying to shut out the voices in his head. But they refused to be silenced.  
  
{{Oh, really?}} laughed one, only visible as a shadow with cruel eyes so much like his own, {{Look, the prince is begging, BEGGING!}}  
  
Cruel dark laughter, which also echoed as his had so many times, broke out as the second shadow responded {{Yes, the prince has truly fallen, he's not even worthy of the name 'sayian' anymore! He's a blind pathetic fool who can't kill a bunch of idiot pacifists, defy a woman, beat a third-class warrior, raise a prince, save his best friend, protect his people, or anything else! All he can do is wallow in self-pity!!}}  
  
Vegeta only huddled closer to the ground, shaking violently. These beasts were echoing his every doubt and fear, and anxiety, all the things he'd never told anyone, all those things he'd locked up inside and ignored, forgotten, made himself forget. He didn't remember dying, but, as he thought, {{This must be what Hell is like...}}  
  
---  
  
Gohan bit his lip quietly, still staring out the window at Vegeta. He'd already been standing there for an hour, one-third of the set time, and hadn't moved. Damn, you had to stare to make sure he was breathing. Only his closed eyelids fluttered softly, and that's what disturbed the kid. It was as if his eyes were jerking around inside them, after phantoms only visible to him. Not to mention that his aura was nuts. The normal royal purple sheath had ragged holes in it, which kept getting ripped down further, like something was attacking it. The halfling swallowed nervously, which did not go unnoticed by his small companion.  
  
"Gohan-san, what is it?" he asked, perking his head up to try to see out the window. Gohan laughed, picking the child up on his knee and saying-  
  
"You're a short namek, aren't you? I noticed that the other kid you were with earlier, the one in red, was a good three inches bigger than you were."  
  
Lute sighed, and after looking around to make sure noone was listening, said "Anocha said I'm not going to grow quite as big as Anoco, but that height doesn't matter- she's short too!"  
  
Laughter broke from his lips when he thought of the 6'11 woman as 'short', but then his head reminded him that it WAS short for a namekisan-jin, though only by an inch.  
  
---  
  
Takusan watched the closed eyes of the sayian-jin, taking in their frantic pace, his mind's eye keeping a close watch on the failing aura surrounding him, as it was the only way to keep track on the battle going on inside his head.  
  
As long as Vegeta did not give up, the aura would hold up, Vegeta would not move, and he would win this fight. But if he did, the aura would crumble, and he would fall, loosing.  
  
The elder mentally thanked Hiku for his insight earlier- although the task seemed stupid, it was perfectly formulated for a test of sayian endurance. The three hours spent without moving gave them too much time to think, and having lost their hair, their confidence takes a hit. So in that time when there was nothing to distract them, they would experience severe mental trauma that would test the strength of their soul severely. If they could hold out that long, they deserved the dragonball.  
  
He laughed slightly to himself, proud of the thought his son had put into the idea. Then his antenna twitched, and he glanced up at the sky to see the positions of the suns.  
  
Time up. And-  
  
Vegeta was still standing.  
  
  
  
~~~NOTE- In one of Neru's statements he says 'ne'. That's not a typo, it's just a little word I like using that means the same as 'right' would at the end of a sentence.  
-  
Oh, and you might have noticed that I alternate between calling Vegeta prince and king. Technically, he's a king, with his father dead and he the only heir, but it's just too strange calling him that after he's been a prince so long. Ciao ~~~ 


	52. Low blow

___Chapter 52___  
  
The six braced themselves for the impact, but were blown away by the force of the assault. They had thought they knew the strength of those others, but nothing could prepare them for the speed at which it came. They tried to keep up, but to do so seemed hopeless, their frantic pace unmatched.  
  
For heaven hath no fury like seven hungry Z-senshi.  
  
The girls were absolutely dumbfounded. Well, the three who had the time to be dumbfounded, that is. Chi-chi, Yen, and Ranchi were too busy cooking to worry about anything else. Videl, Puar, and Bulma had time though, and so they did. But then they ran back into the mess, taking orders, and smacking someone upside the head whenever they spoke too fast.  
  
---  
  
With a broad smile on his face, Goten leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head and feet on the table, Trunks doing likewise.  
  
They suddenly found themselves on the ground, though, flat on their backs with Bulma glaring down at them. "Feet OFF the table!" she reprimanded, bonking them soundly on the head and walking of.  
  
The halflings narrowed their eyes as they pulled their chair back in, and turned toward the namekisan-jin sitting to Goten's left. "Why didn't you warn us mom was coming?" Trunks questioned, stuffing another rice ball into his mouth and swallowing.  
  
Dende glanced over innocently, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face as he stated "I didn't see her.", sipping his water.  
  
"DENDE!" they both yelled, pelting him with rice balls.  
  
"Hey, hey, I surrender, stop!" he laughed, and after wiping most of it off, admitted "Ok, so I didn't tell you she was coming. It's not like I said I would in the first place, and I've told you more than once I don't like everything you guys do."  
  
Trunks put on a smile, and helped his friend clean off as he said "Ok Dende. Come here, Goten, help me get this stuff off his dress."  
  
"TRUNKS!!!!!!"  
  
---  
  
Gohan was finishing his tea when Vegeta stumbled in, shaking. His eyes went wide at the sight- he barely recognized that face. That didn't look like sayian-jin royalty, he looked like something the cat had (literally) dragged in. Vegeta's eyes had lost their luster, his skin pale and face paler still, the usually sound footsteps coming tentatively and heavily.  
  
"VEGETA!" he screamed, "What happened to you????"  
  
The sayian merely glanced up, which only scared the halfling more- his (Veg's) eyes stared straight through him.  
  
Vegeta refused to speak of the ordeal, and just demanded they shut up and tell him where to get some food around here.  
  
Gohan calmed most of the way at that point, but was still nervous in the corner of his mind. "We've got some capsules back at the ship with food, and Lute's got some in the backpack for us two."  
  
"Shutup and give me some, baka shonen." he muttered, flopping down on a chair and laying his head on the table. Oboe was about to say something, but Vegeta interrupted with "One comment, namek, and I'll break your legs."  
  
Piccolo's lips pulled into a faint half-smile at that. {{At least he's starting to act like his old self....}} she said to herself, but made no outward comment, save a small nod.  
  
---  
  
Piccolo was silent for a long time after Neru finished speaking, and the second was about to ask what was going on when Piccolo questioned "So, you knew who she was this whole time, but have never said a word?"  
  
He nodded, but Piccolo re-folded his arms and asked "Why not? You bother me with everything else, but not something that might be of USE?"  
  
At this Neru ducked his head, avoiding those cold eyes and stating flatly "I don't like to talk about it."  
  
This seemed to be enough of an explanation, because Piccolo let it drop, and turned his back, staring out at the nothingness and asking "Where the hell are we?"  
  
"I'm not sure, it looks like the room of spirit and time, but it feels substantially different. That place feels weird, but doesn't have this eerie sort of darkness, amongst all the light. This place has even more 'nothing' then that does."  
  
"Hmn..." Piccolo muttered, resting his chin on a hand as he spoke to noone in particular "More nothing than nothing?"  
  
"Yes. It sounds insane, but it's all I can think to say."  
  
"Why are you here?"  
  
The question came with an abruptness that surprised him, and he replied (eventually) with "H... How am I suppose to know? Why are YOU here?"  
  
"*sigh* That's not what I meant. You're suppose to be in here *taps forehead* , but you're here *points over shoulder* instead. As to the second question, I'm not even sure I AM here. This doesn't feel like my normal body, even my dead one. Something's wrong."  
  
---  
  
Outside, the sun was shining for the first in a long time, but the darkness had moved inside instead. The younger namekian man's condition hadn't improved, if anything it was worse. Kami watched in silent vigil, dark eyes silent.  
  
---  
  
Oboe watched in absolute amazement at the rate the capsules piled up on the table, and silently praised Bulma for not listening to her and packing three crates more of the things that Oboe had told her to.  
  
'Bom' opened a capsule, the food appearing out of it on the table, but before it was there long it was gone, and another 'bom' opened another, and another, and another, and another, and another, until the sayian-jin were satisfied, and there were fifty empty capsules piled up in Lute's backpack.   
  
Vegeta seemed to be feeling better, being his normal shade, but his eyes were still darker than usual, turned a bit more inward and less attentive to the outside. His attitude was back to normal though.  
  
"Hey, are you idiots going to get moving anytime soon, or am I going to do this ALL by myself? Ha, that task was simple, I told that namek I could take anything he gave me, it was nothing." Vegeta stated in his usual arrogant tone, already half-way out the door.  
  
Oboe didn't bother to respond to him, walking out after him with a nod. Gohan sat his teacup down, thanked Takusan, hoisted Lute up on his shoulders, and followed them out. A few moments later, they were gone in a trail of ki, with only the three teens cry of "Goodbye, Piccolo-sama!!" to follow them.  
  
---  
  
"Wrong?"  
  
"Yes. This isn't my body. I don't know where it is."  
  
"..."  
  
"Don't look at me like that. Yes, I know I'm not facing you, but I know you're giving me that look. It's obvious, Neru."  
  
"..."  
  
"I said, don't give me that look!"  
  
"Ok.... Well, where IS your body then?"  
  
"That's what I want to know."  
  
"...oh."  
  
---  
  
"Gohan-san?"  
  
"Yes Lute?"  
  
"Do you think we'll get my anoco back?"  
  
"Of course, Lute-chan! We'll get him back. We've already got two dragonballs."  
  
"Ok. I just..."  
  
"...I miss him too Lute. But everything will be alright. And don't look so down when you nod, ok?"  
  
"Ok, Gohan-san."  
  
"*laughs* You have no clue how weird it is to hear someone call me 'san'."  
  
"Really? But you're so big!"  
  
"Not to everyone else. Vegeta still calls me 'boy'. You, Trunks, Dende, and Goten are the only ones younger than I am."  
  
"No way! But you're an ADULT! Why does he call you 'boy'?"  
  
"Because I can! Shutup children!"  
  
"Vegeta!"  
  
"What, you want me to be quiet so you can continue with your mindless drivel and whining? Damn, for his child, Lute, you sure are-"  
  
"Shutup Vegeta."  
  
"*swallows* Yes, MISS."  
  
"...... Ok, you're asking for it."  
  
"Hey, watch where you're kicking, woman! That's low!"  
  
"*laughs* I missed? Well, let me try again!"  
  
"HEY!!!!!! THAT HURTS!!!!!!!!"  
  
  
  
~~~NOTE- Hello everyone. Well, I won't be able to work on this for a week or so, since I'm going to Utah tomorrow. *nods* In the meantime, I'd like to point you guys at three other kickass namekian writers- Cremrock, Rami, and Bocheememon. All three are magnificent storytellers, with writing styles from humor to drama to romance to action/adventure. Hope you enjoy them. Ciao ~~~ 


	53. Logic/knowledge

___Chapter 53___  
  
~~~NOTE- Back. Well, if you notice shades of the last 2 eps of Evangelion in here, you're right. Just finished the series a little while ago (Truly Kickass, no matter how confusing) and it came to mind while writing this chapter. I've also got the midi for 'just communication' from Gundam Wing going, so if you've got it, put it on. Ciao. ~~~  
  
  
"If it's not here.... then were IS it?"  
  
"*growls* That's what I'm TRYING to figure out, but a certain SOMEONE keeps TALKING and distracting me. *glares* Ok?"  
  
"Alright, don't kill me. Jeez...."  
  
"Shutup before I tear your throat out and MAKE you shutup, understand?"  
  
"..."  
  
"Good."  
  
---  
  
Piccolo was alone. He'd left his 'other half' behind, and now saw nothing but the whiteness around, which perturbed him. There was pure silence.  
  
It's not like he hadn't ever heard silence, most of his life had been spent in that state of mind where the only sound one can hear is the beating of one's own heart, but this.... was wrong. Very wrong.  
  
It almost scared him, would have, if he'd let it. But Piccolo wasn't about to go running back to Neru for help. Hell, he'd kill himself before he'd ask Neru for help. Same with Kami. Or most of the other senshi. The only exceptions were three, which he'd use only in the most extreme cases- Gohan, Oboe, and Vegeta. They were the three people he trusted most, who he would, and had in two of the three cases, die for if needed.  
  
But there was no help here in the emptiness. His head felt light, as if from lack of oxygen, which confused him more, because he wasn't breathing in the first place. The dead don't breathe.  
  
{{They don't generally go waltzing around trying to kill gods either.}} mumbled a voice in the back of his mind sarcastically. Piccolo was about to reply 'shutup Neru', but remembered the namekian was separate for now and stopped himself.  
  
Why WAS that anyway? Ever since their fusion they'd been stuck together, why not now? And wasn't it impossible to be separated? If he remembered correctly, namekian fusion was permanent, right?  
  
Piccolo clamped his hands over his head, hissing in aggravation at all the confusion milling in his mind at once. What was going on? Was someone trying to drive him mad with all this?  
  
---  
  
Gohan sighed, hands on his chin as he sat on the cliff, eyes scanning over the edge. They'd been traveling for quite some time, and he + Lute were dead on their feet- the kid had already fallen asleep, using the halfling's leg as a pillow. Gohan smiled, patting the little namekian's head. He was really getting to like the green-eyed boy.  
  
Then his eyes caught the horizon again, just in time to watch the first sun set, turning the sky around it the most beautiful shade of amber and maroon. The effect would have been nicer, though, it he hadn't glanced up and seen another sun broiling down at him. He couldn't help but wonder how weird if felt for Oboe....  
  
Thinking of the namekian woman, he glanced toward the shaded spot she'd curled up in, in her own form. He still stared at her oddly, like he was sure he did every time since she'd told her story, a little disturbed and confused. He'd never thought of her as anything but the happy little thing that loved his sensei before, but now...  
  
{{Weird how much your view of someone can change once you know more about then.}} he mumbled, yawning and patting Lute's head before plopping asleep.  
  
---  
"Ah, damnit all... Why's it so damned BRIGHT out here!" Vegeta moaned, shoving his head further between his knees in hopes of being able to sleep. No such luck.  
  
"Shutup." mumbled a voice from further off.  
  
"No woman, I will NOT shutup, I will sit here complaining until doomsday if I wish!" he yelled back, the lack of sleep making him cross. The sayian glanced over at her, curled up on her side on the ground, trying to find some shade between the shadows of a smaller cliff and a tree grove. Spotting a nice-sized rock by his foot, me smirked and chucked it at her back.  
  
When Oboe jerked around, Vegeta was pretending he was asleep, and she murmured "Thank god, he shut his trap..." and laid back down. Vegeta picked up another rock, smirked, and chucked it at the back of her head.  
  
It never reached though, because she caught it in her hand, crushing it. "That wasn't funny, Veggie." she smiled, eyes between laughter and annoyance.  
  
Vegeta's jaw dropped, and he shouted "Don't call me Veggie!", eyes wide.  
  
Oboe merely pulled on her lower left eyelid and stuck her tongue out.  
  
"HEY!" he was about to shout, but then she smacked him upside the head, pointing to the two sleeping children.  
  
With a grumble of annoyance, he sighed, settling back down to attempt to sleep in the sunshine.  
  
---  
  
Neru looked around himself, hoping for a sign of some sort. Nothing. With an agitated moan, he slumped to the ground in a sitting position. He'd thought being with Piccolo breathing down his back was bad, but being alone proved far worse.  
  
The 'darkness amongst all the light' he'd mentioned earlier was still there, and it made his head pin just to TRY and figure out what it was. So many possibilities.... and so many of them bad.  
  
He'd had enough negativity in his life, though, so he pushed those out of his mind. He'd seen his people, family, and friends slaughtered twice in his lifetime, and the deaths of hundreds of others through the mind's eye of Piccolo and his sire, he didn't need anything else negative to think about.  
  
---  
  
"... Can't get any more quiet here, can it?" he whispered gruffly, glancing around his surroundings and sighing. The strange thoughts had disappeared as suddenly as they'd come, and he was walking through the whiteness again. But now something else was unnerving him, something he'd known for a while but only now could admit to himself- he was totally lost.  
  
---  
  
Oboe shifted again, trying to get comfortable and rest, but whenever her eyes closed, she felt as if she were back in that night forest all those centuries ago, and jolted back up in a cold sweat. She still couldn't sleep, not without him there.  
  
Vegeta, because he'd been complaining so bitterly noone could attempt to shut him up, had gotten a small capsule house for himself out of the backpack ("Seems that onna has some practical use after all!" as he'd said), and was now fast asleep. Lute'd been out the whole time, and Gohan had plopped back down in a matter of minutes. But Oboe was too haunted to rest.  
  
---  
  
"What's WITH those two, after all the sake they've ingested, they should be out cold!" Bulma yelled at Yen, hands on her hips. Actually, one was on her hip, the other was pointed at the transporters in question.  
  
Yen just took one look at Bulma's exasperated face and cracked up.  
  
"Hey, this isn't FUNNY!" she shouted in indignation, but the triclops woman didn't respond. Bulma grumbled something about idiots under her breath and, sweatdrop visible on the side of her head, stormed off to the kitchen, an idea for revenge already stirring in her mind.  
  
---  
  
"Trunks, slow down, will you!" shouted the young namekian, eyes wide. "You're gonna choke or something! And GOTEN, that's a-"   
  
"Hey, who stuck a napkin on my plate? I almost swallowed it!"  
  
"*sweatdrops* Um... then what's that hanging out of your mouth?"  
  
"..."  
  
"*takes one look, smacks his purple-haired head into the table so he doesn't laugh and start choking, fails* "  
  
"See Trunks, I told you you'd choke! Here, let me help"  
  
"*screeches* The claws, watch the claws!!!"  
  
"Um, gomen Trunks...."  
  
"*sighs* Dende, Dende, Dende.... what are we suppose to do with you?"  
  
Then Goten's eyes lit up, an evil smirk on his face. He disappeared for a minute, but returned quickly, hands behind his back.  
  
"Goten, what's that?"  
  
"Oh, nothing Dende......"  
  
Trunks gave him a look, but then he saw what the other halfling had and smiled.  
  
"Hey, why are you two looking at me like that...." mumbled the child in question, but by the time he realized what was going on, they'd jumped him.  
  
Dende broke away a few seconds later, coughing and yelling "What'd you guys just force down my throat?"  
  
Goten flashed the traditional Son grin, and said "Food. Just came out of the kitchen."  
  
Dende sighed, and was about to reply when his face washed pale and he collapsed over in a faint. Trunks and Goten merely blinked in confusion.  
  
The black haired child glanced down at the plate, eyeing the contents. "Hey, might as well not let it go to waste! Whaddya say, Trunks?"  
  
"Dig in!" they both chimed in, but after the first bit passed their mouths, they froze.  
  
"...W.. what is this, poison?" Goten shouted, gagging.  
  
Trunks just shook his head, whispering "No, worse... kassan's cooking!!!!"  
  
---  
  
Bulma smirked evilly- though she wasn't proud about her cooking deficiencies, it'd get her and the other ladies out of the kitchen fast enough, since no more orders would be coming in.  



	54. Gift

___Chapter 54___  
  
She tried to close her eyes again, but it was to no avail- she couldn't sleep. Whenever her lids shut, she saw that forest again, the same image and numbness that had hovered in what was left of her mind for five hundred years, and she jerked out of it in a cold sweat.  
  
Oboe sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around herself, feeling that familiar sense that'd haunted every night of her young, earthbound life. It was setting in again...  
  
At that point she just nuzzled her face into the grass, the smell and warmth of her homeworld calming her, and had almost drifted off when she suddenly went cold. Oboe's ears twitched at the silence in the air, the knowledge that hers was the only heartbeat she could hear, and the realization of Piccolo's death hit her hard. Without a sound, the namekian woman's eyes flew wide, glazed over.  
  
---  
  
Gohan awoke from a dream where he was a little child chasing Piccolo-san to the sound of screaming. He jerked up, startling Lute awake, and turned his head around quickly, trying to figure out where the unearthly sound was coming from before his eyes settled on a shaking, whispering/whimpering form in the small patch of shadow they had.  
  
The halfling boy's eyes were unreadable, save for a strange, understanding sadness as he shook the poor woman awake. He didn't know much namekian, but there'd been a few words in there he'd recognized, like his sensei's name.  
  
"Hey, Oboe, snap out of it..." he whispered, just a bit afraid. Then she jerked around, staring straight at him with those big blue eyes, but no light reflected off them, the pupils dilated, and Gohan lost his nerve, fleeing a couple feet away behind Vegeta's little house-thing.  
  
"Gohan-san, what's going on? Where are you? Are you ther- ANOCHA!" Lute's little voice rang out as he looked around, forgetting his earlier train of thought at the sight of his mother.  
  
The halfling swallowed nervously, leaning his head on his hands and thinking to himself {{What to do, what to do...}}  
  
He glanced back over, but at the sight of Oboe's empty eyes, he panicked again, biting his lip and staring out at the coast. She was really scaring him, just like she had when she'd blindly hacked Kartak to pieces, just like whenever he saw her after she'd told her story. Oboe had always seemed so harmless, such a sweet little thing... but inside she was crazy, just a paranoid girl who should have died five hundred years ago. She'd found ways to forget herself, but when all that was stripped away......  
  
Gohan stared at his hands, his shaking hands, and bit his lip. He closes his eyes, and prepared to just walk away when-  
  
SLAM!!  
  
Vegeta threw the door open, knocking the halfling soundly into a tailspin.  
  
"Ok, WHAT the hell is the green boy yelling about that's important enough to wake me up??" he hollered, glaring at the person he'd knocked flat on his ass. Gohan glared at him, and was about to respond when the sayian just waltzed past, picked Lute up with one hand, stared him in the face and ordered him to tell what the hell was wrong.  
  
Upon being hefted up in the air, the emerald-eyed boy stared blankly at Vegeta, tears streaking his little face. "Anocha, something's wrong with anocha..."  
  
"STOP SPEAKING THAT CRAP LANGUAGE!!" the sayian shouted, causing the little one to start crying again. The sound of thunder cracked overhead, soot-hued clouds began their assault, darkening the sky, and the sky opened up, as if Nameksei itself was crying. Vegeta ignored the rain that hit his unprotected scalp, and was about to yell again when he locked eyes with him. Lute's face was flushed, and he was sobbing bitterly, pounding on Vegeta's arm with his fists. He'd never really looked at the kid's face, but now that Lute's normal silliness was gone, he really did look just like....  
  
Vegeta dropped him like a ton of bricks, biting his lip. Lute just clamped his eyes shut, clenched his little fists, and bawled, causing Vegeta to stumble backward till he bumped into something. It was Oboe, still comatose. And those eleven little words echoed in his head-  
  
"Hey Vegeta, you take care of Oboe while I'm gone, ok?"  
  
He glanced down at her, and back towards Lute, but the kid wasn't there anymore, he was sitting on Gohan's lap and getting rocked back and forth, the halfling whispering "It's alright, it's alright...." while stroking his little head. That resolved, he looked back to Oboe, and kneeled down, uneasily.  
  
Truthfully, next to her was one of the last places he wanted to be right now, but that's what he'd promised.....  
  
---  
  
Lost.  
  
Very lost.  
  
The namekisan-jin man was getting rather unnerved by this point. Piccolo was nowhere to be seen, and he'd gotten a shiver down his spine just a minute ago. Neru was getting scared.  
  
He'd tried to meditate, but hadn't been able to collect his thoughts, which made that impossible. He'd tried thinking about other things, but after recalling his past so shortly ago, he just kept seeing all those bodies. He'd tried figuring out where they were, but that only hurt his head. He'd tried contacting someone, but no luck.  
  
All he had to do was sit, and try not to think of what it was that was frightening him, deep inside.  
  
---  
  
The furry little bundle trotted in, tail swishing with the happiness warm fur and a full belly brings, holding the stem of an apple in his teeth. He was bringing a gift to a friend.  
  
Kami glanced down when he heard a little 'ooh', and felt someone tug on his robe. It was Bubbles, sitting up and holding out a small green fruit.  
  
The old god knelt down, a confused look to his face as he asked "Yes, what is it?"  
  
Bubbles just 'ooh'ed again, pushing the apple into his hand, and making a gesture that meant 'eat it'  
  
A soft smile crossed his wrinkled face, and he patted the simian's head gently, saying "Well, thank you, little one. That was generous of you." Standing up, he laid the gift gently on the windowsill and added "But I'm not hungry right now, I'll keep it here until I am. Alright?"  
  
This seemed to satisfy the small ape, and with a happy look to his face, he totted back outside. Kami-sama just sighed, a smile still lighting his lips, but it faded when he glanced back to the figure in the corner. With a sad sigh, he leaned back on his staff, feeling considerably older than he had a minute ago.  
  
"Child, don't give up."  
  
---  
  
Piccolo didn't hear his words though, he was lost in the plain of nothingness known as.... whatever.  
  
"GODDAMNIT!!!" he screamed, getting aggravated by this point. He'd lost all track of space and time, and was currently trying to quell a rising sense of panic. If this place was just like the Room of Spirit and Time, he might never find his way back, might never see his friends again, or Lute, or.... Oboe.  
  
{{Calm down, there's got to be a way out of this}} his logic tried to reason, but he couldn't calm down, no matter what he tried. It pissed him off, but there was literally nothing he could do (short of knocking himself out) to keep the emotion out of his face and voice.  
  
---  
  
The rain fell lightly, then hard, around the little shelter between rock and trees, which shaded the two forms from it. Vegeta was speaking quietly, not knowing if she could hear him, not knowing if he was doing any good, only knowing that he'd promised, and that he wouldn't be able to face his friend if he didn't do SOMETHING.  
  
---  
  
Everything had a melancholy air to it, Gohan observed from the window of Vegeta's little capsule house, which he'd moved into. It wasn't very big, no more than the size of a normal room, but it was enough to keep them out of the storm.  
  
Remembering his companion, Gohan shifted Lute's sleeping form. The kid had cried himself to sleep... The halfling sighed, re-adjusting the weight against his chest, making sure not to wake him. He watched the little one twitch slightly, and smiled at how Lute's face, usually so impish/elfish, had a more innocent tone with those big eyes closed.  
  
Gohan let his attention wander back outside, wondering what was going on with Oboe.  
  
---  
  
The three rested in the shade of a wall briefly, to collect their thoughts before going off again. The two halflings, however, just crashed asleep before they hit the ground, and Dende had to shake them up.  
  
"Comeon guys, we've still got work to do!"  
  
"*grumbles* I'm still hungry...."  
  
"Yeah, I know Goten, *also grumbles* Mom had to go ruin it for us..."  
  
"Oh stop it, bakas. *hoists them up* it's time to get going."  
  
"AWWW!!!"  
  
"Stop whining you two!"  
  
"Yeah, and this coming from a guy in a dress."  
  
"HEY!"  
  
---  
  
He knew he wasn't doing much good. She hadn't even looked in his direction to acknowledge him, just kept staring ahead. The sayian sighed to himself. Great. Now he was getting soaked for nothing.  
  
Still.....  
  
{{Damn Piccolo}} he murmured, {{I hope you're fairing better than I am, friend.}}  
  
---  
  
"Hey, Tien?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"You ever thought about death?"  
  
"... I try not to."  
  
"I have, sometimes. Thought about it more when I learned Bulma had left me for..... him."  
  
::silence::  
  
"I'd be more comforting, but we're sorta toting a ton plus block above us, so there goes the pat on the back."  
  
"It's ok, I'm fine now, really."  
  
"... your sure, Yumcha?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine."  
  
"Alright. Because if you've ever got to talk to someone, I'll be open, ok?"  
  
"Sure Tien, thanks. *smiles* "  
  
"Ok, block down! Alley OOP!"  
  
*thunk*  
  
"AAAHHH!!!! MY FOOT!!!!"  
  
"*both sweatdrop* sorry Goku...."  
  
  
  
~~~NOTE~~ well, it's been a long time since I've updated, because of other stuff, school, working on "the journals of a young boy" and "disconnected" (two up-and-coming ficcies of mine), national crises, and one helluva case of writer's block, but after seeing the reaction to "footprints"- well, it seems you do all still care about me //.^ Ciao. ~~~  



	55. Flying

___Chapter 55___  
  
~~~NOTE- Musical inspiration on this chapter- "For Nancy ('cos it already is)", by Pete Yorn. ~~~  
  
She soared gently above the mountains, face quiet while taking in the scenery. The air was fresh and cool, one of those beautiful summer's breezes that makes your soul feel a bit lighter than usual, perfect blue sky all around her.  
  
On a whim, her aura flared up, and she went rocketing through the sky at an astounding speed, literally bursting through the clouds. The wind whipped back her antennae, ruffled her clothing and tickled her nose, causing her to giggle, or maybe it was just the pure joy flying brings when it's done for no reason in particular, with no set destination or care in the world, it's just..... freedom.  
  
Oboe-chan burst out with laughter, ripping through the clear sky like a hawk, or a child. It'd been a long time since she'd done this....  
  
"Hey!" cried out a voice from below, and her ears perked when she recognized the voice, and glanced down to see the caped figure soaring further below her.  
  
"Piccolo-san!" she smiled, waving to him and glided down to bring herself closer. About twenty feet away, they leveled off, and with a smile, Oboe asked "What brings you to these parts?"  
  
"Just passing through." he remarked, a half-smile playing on his lips. When she didn't say anything, he glanced forward and finished "Took a while to find you, you weren't where you usually wait."  
  
"Well, I got tired, and went flying. Sorry, Piccolo-san."  
  
He just blinked. "Flying where?"  
  
"Just flying." Oboe hugged her arms happily around herself and added "Sometimes I just like flying, for fun."  
  
".... huh?"  
  
"*laughs* Silly! You don't know much about fun, do you?"  
  
"...."  
  
"You've gotta learn sometime, especially if we're going to be hanging out more often. *taps his nose, smiling* "  
  
Piccolo was quiet for a long period of time after that, just staring forward before glancing back at her. "So.... how does that go again?"  
  
She grinned. "Don't think about where you're going or what you're doing, just..... fly." And with that, she took his hand and shot off, straight up into the sky.  
  
At first he only yelled out of the suddenness of it all, but the more he saw her just smile that smile of hers and encourage him, the easier it got to just let the world go, and....... let loose.  
  
Oboe's eyes sparkled with pure joy for that hour, a rare moment of pure freedom in her life, only made better by the fact that, well, HE was there too. And... happy. Oboe giggled, and wheeled around, chasing after his chi, and upon seeing a moving white shape, swung her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulderpads, staring up at a near-full smile on his face.  
  
Piccolo opened his mouth to speak- but the words never came out. Suddenly she was back on the sanctuary again, and her lover's bleeding, broken body, though still at the young age they'd first just flew, slumped in her arms, dead eyes wide.  
  
And she jostled out of her trance, screaming.  
  
---  
  
Vegeta just stared at her, still laying flat on his ass five feet away, where he'd literally jumped when she'd awoken.  
  
"GODDAMNIT WOMAN, TRYNA GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK!" he shrieked in shock, the end of his mouth twitching.  
  
Oboe just stared at him, shaking, and buried her head in her hands to weep. But Vegeta, as thick to people's emotions as usual, just cursed her out, until someone backhanded him soundly, knocking him out.  
  
Gohan brushed off his hands, glaring at the unconscious sayian prince before going over to the woman and wrapping his arms around her comfortingly. "It's OK Oboe-san, we'll get him back, please don't cry......"  
  
When she'd finally collected herself enough to speak, she just muttered "Piccolo-san....."  
  
The halfling sighed, tilted her head up so he could see her eyes, and said firmly "He's coming back. If I've got to search to the ends of the earth, I'm going to get my sensei back. Ok? Please don't cry Oboe-san, I don't thin- no, I know he wouldn't want you to cry over him. Please don't cry."  
  
Oboe nodded weakly, and hugged him tight, murmuring "Arigato, Gohan-chan." before pulling herself up off the ground and walking quietly to the capsule house. Gohan followed suit, and shut the door behind him.  
  
The rain continued in silence, darkening the sky like night, and sliding down the bare scalp of a, by now, soggy sayian-jin prince who'd put his foot in his mouth one too many times.  
  
---  
  
The sun boiled down on those at the Tenkai once again, and in the middle of it all, a woman with short black hair slumped down under the last palm standing, sipping a pina collada.  
  
The first thing that wandered into her mind was Gohan. He'd been gone for a while now... She sighed, playing with the salt on the side of the glass nonchalantly with a long-since chipped fingernail.  
  
Videl's attention was suddenly drawn to that, and pouted her lips slightly. It's been a long time since her hands hadn't been callused, or she'd been able to do her hair up nice, or she'd worn a dress... But this was the life she'd chose, and she'd known the consequences when she'd chosen it. Still...  
  
Maybe when Gohan got home, she'd wear a dress for him, the long black one with the marbling effect down the skirt, and the magenta trim.....  
  
Yeah, he'd like that. But in the meantime.... Videl dropped her empty glass off at the makeshift kitchen area, and slugged her bag over her shoulder again. Back to work...  
  
---  
  
"Goku, hey, get back here, I can't hold this by myself!!" Krillan yelled out, glaring at the shape squatted on the ground, staring at something.  
  
"Comeon Goku, I'm getting crushed here!"  
  
"Goku....... GOKU!!!!!"  
  
The sayian finally glanced up, and glanced over to the little man, holding a wall they were reconstructing, but which had tilted, up. His eyes went wide, and he yelled "Krillan! What are you doing there, all by yourself?"  
  
"WAITING FOR YOU!!!"  
  
"Oh.... *walks over, pushes it back into place easily* Why didn't you just ask?"  
  
Krillan just stared, sweatdropping. "You've got to be kidding...."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"..... just forget it."  
  
---  
  
Soft sunlight fell through a window, outlining the shadow of an apple and falling further until it struck an angular face, highlighting spots usually hidden by frown lines. The light played tricks over the visage, bathing some in it's rays. But Piccolo's head tilted into the pillow, hiding his face in shadow subconsciously.  
  
Kami-sama watched gravely. He wasn't improving. If only there were something he could do... but he knew there was not. This was Piccolo's battle..... if he had the strength to pull through it....  
  
---  
  
He had finally slipped into meditation when he heard it- a bloodcurdling scream, emanating through the white expanse.  
  
Neru jerked up immediately, trying to latch onto the source of the sound, and once he had a direction, he shot off, full speed. No way in hell he was gonna sit on his ass this whole time, he was gonna DO something, and whatever'd make Piccolo scream HAD to be SOMETHING...  
  
---  
  
Oboe's eyes twitched slightly underneath their lids, and upon sliding them open slowly, she glanced to her side on reflex, and sighed. Still no Piccolo.  
  
Instead, she realized as she glanced into her arms, there was Lute, snoring peacefully on her lap. Oboe's smile returned upon the sight of the child, and she patted his head softly, mentally thanking him for getting her to rest again.  
  
She laid him down on Gohan's lap on the other side of the room, and stepped outside, eyes closed. Still smelled like her old Nameksei. The air felt the same too. Oboe opened her eyes, a slightly disturbed look to her face. The resemblance was eerie...  
  
She didn't have much more time to think right then, though, because a fistful of mud was hurtled at her, slamming her neatly in the back of the head. She squeaked in alarm, and jerked around to a most pathetic sight.  
  
It'd really rained last night, and Veggie'd gotten the worst of it. He was a soaking, muddy mess. Oboe was so surprised by the sight that before she could stop herself, she burst out with giggles. Vegeta shot her a death-glare, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything- now that he'd thought about it, he'd really acted like an ass last night.....  
  
"Ok, ok" he finally was able to spit out, "I'll be back in ten minutes, after I go wash off....", and stomped off where he smelled a large quantity of water.  



	56. Thoughts, without words to express

___Chapter 56___  
  
~~~NOTE- music listened to while writing this chapter- Radiohead's "Ok Computer" ~~~  
  
"Yo, Tien!"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Well, I was wondering.... you ever kissed a girl?"  
  
"*stares* What kind of question is THAT?"  
  
"Dunno, just wondering."  
  
"Yumcha, you were at our wedding, that's not a question you should need to ask."  
  
"Oh *slaps himself* silly me."  
  
"Is that all?"  
  
"No wait, got another question- so how's your 'life', anyways?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"*coughs* Your 'life'."  
  
"My life? What about it?"  
  
"Nah, you don't get what I'm saying, so it probably sucks."  
  
"You've really lost me, Yumcha. What do you mean by my 'life'? Oh, wait, block down. OOMPH!"  
  
*thunk*  
  
"Thanks guys!"  
  
"*both* Welcome, Goku!"  
  
They watched Son carry off the next piece of masonry, but instead of running off to get the next, Tien just glanced back to Yumcha.  
  
"What were you saying again"  
  
"Um...... Well, it's like this... *whispers something into his ear* "  
  
::Silence::  
  
"YOU SICK BASTARD!!! *backhands him soundly* How can you even ASK me something like that???"  
  
".... *pulls himself up on his elbows, mutters with a smirk* I guess that means the answer is 'no'?"  
  
"AAAHH!!!"  
  
---  
  
He was getting closer, he knew it. This was definitely the direction it'd come from, his fellow namekian's shout, and if it wasn't....  
  
{{In that case, I would be soo screwed......}} he murmured mentally, ignoring the signals shooting up his legs telling him to slow down. Neru wasn't gonna stop now, when something might finally be happening....  
  
---  
  
Another bright day. Lute kicked his feet slightly, the back of his heels connecting with the roof of the hollow capsule house to make a 'ting' sound with each tap. Gohan was eating breakfast, his mom was off by herself to think, and Vegeta hadn't come back from cleaning off yet.  
  
At the thought of Vegeta, his lip pouted slightly. He hadn't been very nice to him lately... Lute, not one to hold a grudge, brushed it off as a bad mood and leaned backward onto the top of the roof, further away from the curved edge so he wouldn't fall off. {{Everyone's entitled to a few mood swings.}} the namekisan-jin child thought to himself, smirking slightly. {{ Hell, 'Pops was notorious for those....}}  
  
His mind was drawn of the subject, though, when someone called out his name from below. Lute cocked an eyeridge, and sat up to see the halfling waving him down.  
  
"I'm gonna put the capsule away, time to get off!"  
  
" *blinks* What would happen if I didn't?"  
  
"I dunno, never tried it before. *plays the capsule between his fingers* You wanna be the first to find out, Lute-chan?"  
  
"NO WAY!!"  
  
Gohan looked at the little one's face and laughed heartily, and once he could compose himself enough to speak, finished with "Then get down, silly!"  
  
Lute obliged, and popped the capsule into his backpack along with all the others. He glanced up, one of his antennae perking at an angle as he asked "So, what now?"  
  
Gohan took a seat on the ground, and shrugged. "Gotta wait till your mom and Vegeta get back."  
  
"Ok."  
  
A few minutes passed, and Gohan felt someone tug on the leg of his gi. Lute was staring up at him, face quiet. "What is it, little guy?"  
  
He wasn't answered immediately, but Lute stared down at his feet and muttered "So, you knew my dad?"  
  
".... Yeah."  
  
"How so? You said something about being trained by him a while ago, but you seem fonder of him than that."  
  
Gohan sighed, patting the kid on the head and saying in a quiet voice "He means alot of things to me. He's not just my sensei, he's a best friend and second father, al- no, not almost, is. *breathes in deeply, closing eyes for a second* Though we're not as good friends as we used to be.... Meeting Videl has made my life so complicated...."  
  
"*blinks* Dad doesn't like her."  
  
"I know, I've seen those two together. They can't stand each other's presence... though I think she likes your mom."  
  
"Yup."  
  
"So, how have your parents been doing? I haven't seen them together in ages..."  
  
"Just 'cause you haven't seen them. I guess they've been doing alright, I still don't understand alot of this stuff, I'm only six."  
  
Gohan blinked, and looked back down at him. "You sure don't look it."  
  
"I know, mom tells me that all the time. *grins* It's funny you should say that, me looking big when I'm actually short..."  
  
The conversation got cut off there, though, because Vegeta came waltzing back in, trying to still look princely, though it'd take him quite some time for that hair to grow back in. The two greeted him, Vegeta merely replied with a grunt and set upon the food.  
  
---  
  
New Nameksei was quiet again, it's three suns beating down on it with mercy for once, though that was supplied by the clouds and breeze. Within that all, it still seemed quite like it's counterpart.  
  
"Our mother..." Oboe whispered quietly, reciting a line Saichro'd taught her from an ancient poem about how her people had come to be. Nameksei herself had been their mother, and all her children were the people of a single being, who had no name. Every namekisan-jin was born with a love of their homeworld, but Old Nameksei was no more.  
  
That'd left a hole in her soul for a long time. And when she'd first seen Piccolo..... her heart had leapt, thinking he was Damaiou, alive again. Thinking she wouldn't be alone, have to bear this emptiness anymore...  
  
"Funny how the world works," she mused, head leant on her hand, "You look for one thing, but find another, of equal or greater value. *chuckles slightly* "  
  
Oboe was seated in her valley again, on 'Damaiou's' side of the tree, letting her back lean against the rough old bark and twining her fingers in the silky grass, her childhood surrounding her again. There, in the far corner, was the hole in the 'wall' where she'd crawl through every day and wait for Palidor-chan to come late so she could tease him, about three feet from that was where they'd all sat and stargazed so many times, directly above her was the bough where her little aeco once leapt off to surprise Damaiou, and a quick glance away was that one tree limb, where her brother sat/hung from/jumped off daily. Jokingly, she glanced over to the spot where he'd left an indent on the old trunk when he missed his target...... Her thoughts suddenly stopped dead in their tracks  
  
No way...  
  
---  
  
Oboe rushed over to the wood, eyes wide, staring at a particular length of trunk. Her hands were quivering, trembling, shaking violently. It wasn't possible...  
  
First, the orbital view. Then Saichro's tower, where Katass had lived, Ratal-san's island, the shore she'd trained on, where she and Damaiou started a dinosaur stamped with Palidor that one day, all the other locations she'd recognized. Then the valley, the tree, the very aura of the planet, the smell and feel of the air, and the adjica. Now this.....  
  
She pulled away very slowly, wide eyes open, from the rough indent of a foot against the bark. Her eyes shot upward, surveying the nail-scratches on the branch above her head, and a thousand other details that wouldn't have been noticeable if you weren't looking for them.  
  
What in the world was going on?  
  
Oboe couldn't take it anymore and fled quickly, leaving behind a flush of sparkles that had escaped her eyes.  
  
---  
  
She sighed deeply, stopping for a minute's rest in the middle of everything she was doing. Ignoring the fact that her hair was starting to almost plaster against her forehead, Bulma sighed, and plopped down. They'd been working for almost two weeks... or maybe it was more, she'd lost track.  
  
Her attention was drawn up when Tien and Yumcha raced by, chattering on still, because the sake' hadn't quite worn off yet... The blue haired woman chuckled to herself on that thought, and murmured aloud "Only god knows what they're saying..." and laid down on her back for some quick shut-eye.  
  
That didn't happen, though, because as soon as she closed her eyes two little shapes shot over and began chanting "Get up, get up, get up! Time's a wasting!!!" with obvious pleasure in their voices.  
  
Bulma gritted her teeth and snapped one eye open, identifying the culprits as her son and Goku's kid, telling her the same thing she'd yelled at them whenever they sat still too long. A moan of aggravation escaped her lips, and she pulled herself up, glancing to the child sitting nearby who didn't seem to be enjoying this as much and asking "Can't you make them stop?"  
  
Dende just shrugged and replied "I told them not to, but they don't have to listen to me."  
  
"You're the older one... *pulls up, rubbing her tired back* At least you could try to keep them in line."  
  
"Actually, they wanted to throw grease on you at first, but I convinced them this would be more practical."  
  
"WHAT????"  
  
"DENDE!!! You promised you wouldn't tell!"  
  
"*chuckles* Now did I?"  
  
"I'M GONNA KILL YOU TWO LITTLE FREAKS!!!!"  
  
"EEEEKKKKKK!!!!!!"  
  
---  
  
{{Still no sign of him.....}} Neru thought to himself, narrowing his eyes and trying to focus on his 'twin's chi, before remembering he was dead, he didn't have one, and smacking himself upside the head for that oversight.  
  
He'd lost track of him.  
  
Great.  
  
The namekisan-jin man then dropped to one of his last resorts- "YO, PICCOLO!!! WHERE ARE YOU????"  
  
Neru stopped then, straining his ears for any sound, and upon getting no answer, sighed.  
  
Then he heard it- a faint reply. Or he thought it was a reply... Uncertain, he took to the 'air' again, following the sound...  
  
---  
  
"Why'd you two stop all of a sudden?"  
  
"Stop what?"  
  
"Talking, you and the kid. You were talking, then you stopped."  
  
"Nothing, Vegeta, we were just talking about... *sighs* "  
  
".....Oh." The sayian-jin's voice went a bit quiet at that point, and he put away the last empty hoi-poi capsule, before sitting down by himself and closing his eyes.  
  
{{So, he still remembers you, even with that girl hovering around him so much... Goddamnit namek, why'd you have to go get yourself ****ing killed?? I was suppose to bug the hell out of you when the woman showed up with the kid, and everyone else would be gawking, but I'd just be laughing, because now you'd know what it's like to have one of those wonderful little pains-in-the-asses toting along after you..... Instead you go and get yourself killed....}}  
  
Vegeta sighed quietly at that point, and was about to smoothen his hair back when he remembered it wasn't there, and narrowed his eyes, cursing quietly in sayian-go. He stared back up at the green sky, and remembered the exchange they'd had all those years ago somewhere on this dust ball-  
  
"Hey, aren't you the one we killed so easily back then? What do you hope to do now?"  
  
"Shutup, ok? After I finish Freezer, It'll be you and me, alright?"  
  
"Sure. Whatever you say, namek."  
  
He chuckled slightly, covering his face with a hand, staring out between his fingers, and whispered "Pic, you owe me big time for this one..... We never did get to have that spar..." but his voice didn't have it's usual conviction. Unbeknownst to Vegeta, something sparkled in his right eye, but was wiped away by his glove when he pulled it away from his face, and walked back to the others.  
  
"Now, where the hell is that woman?"  
  
  
~~~NOTE- I quoted from the show in here, but it's not exact, since I haven't seen that eppy in a while, so gomen on that. And if you don't know what Yumcha's talking about in the opening... *sweatdrops* It's a sick little joke, but I couldn't help but plop it in there when if came in my head. ~~~  
  



	57. Hollow

___Chapter 57___  
  
~~~NOTE- musical inspiration, LIVE's 'Secret Samadhi', particularly the songs "Graze" (track 3) and "Insomnia and the hole in the universe" (track 7) ~~~  
  
  
The shape floated across the ground like a spirit, wavering and uncertain. Everything just brought back the memories... Her heart ached sharply, and her face stung with unshed tears, but she just wandered aimlessly, trying to find something that wasn't so damn familiar....  
  
Oboe didn't know where to go.  
  
She just stumbled on, one hand clutched tightly around her ring, quiet eyes speaking more than her words could ever, mirroring right down to her shaken soul.  
  
---  
  
A pout creased the simian's features, and he 'ooh'ed pathetically, letting his unhappiness be well known to the ancient being that stood watch in the small room. Bubbles wanted to play, and he wanted his new friend to come with him. But Kami would hear none of it.  
  
"I'm sorry little one" he said in a gentle tone, patting his furry head and saying "I can't come out right now...."  
  
Bubbles, being on the level of a child, didn't understand why, and let his indignance be known loudly, in the form of a series of shrieks and yells with the most indignantly hurt intonation, ending the fit in crawling over to the door, tail dragging on the ground.  
  
Something in the little ape's behavior truly touched the old god, the sadness in the thing's eyes pushing too many buttons in his gentle heart then he could ignore comfortably. Still, there was the matter of Piccolo...  
  
Kami glanced back over to the one in question, and pondered to himself for a moment. He was doing much better, a calmness to his features and demeanor that had lasted for a few hours already. {{My standing here isn't helping, and I shouldn't just let the little one feel hurt...}} he thought quietly to himself, and a small smile lit his lips as he tapped Bubbles on the head, and nodded.  
  
"Alright, I'll go with you."  
  
---  
  
The landscape was silent, but it's peace was broken by a flare of brilliance and sound, and a ball of light shot straight across the sky, frightening a flock of birds into flight, but the man ignored them, merely gritting his teeth and watching his surroundings for any sign of the woman.  
  
"Goddamnit!" he cursed aloud, clenching a gloved fist and glaring out at all of the 'nothing', "Where the hell ARE you, woman?? GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!!!"  
  
No response met Vegeta's ears, only aggravating him further. Under his breath he murmured in a softer, sadder tone "How the hell am I suppose to watch out for her if she keeps disappearing like this? You just HAD to find a difficult one, didn't you namek?"  
  
The sayian sighed, burying his head in his fist for an exasperated second before bursting off again.  
  
---  
  
As the ball of light disappeared on the horizon, misted sapphire eyes glanced up in a daze, but their owner wasn't in the right state to identify it for what it was. Mind muddled once again with the silence in the air, the coldness in that one part of her soul, and a childhood long dead revisited, she didn't notice where her feet were landing, and was caught completely by surprise when a root hooked her foot, dragging her body down into a crash on the ground.  
  
A quick squeal of pain escaped her lips, but it was cut short when her face was jarred into the dirt, muffling the sound. Oboe's eyes snapped shut, but for a few seconds she just lay there, not wanting to ever have to pull herself back up again, but a thread of pain in her ankle forced her to adjust her position, freeing her foot and clutching it gingerly.  
  
It hurt badly, she'd probably gotten it sprained, broken at worst. "Great..... shakira..." she cursed softly in her own language, "I don't think I even know HOW to mend bone... *sighs* WHY does it take THOUGHT to heal myself, it just gets sucked out of me once I open myself to heal someone else..."  
  
{{Of course, that means you get to keep breathing}} a little voice came in the back of her head, but she just rolled her eyes and ignored it, rolling up her pant leg to get a better look at the injury.  
  
---  
  
She grimaced slightly at the sight of it- not quite broken, but one hell of a sprain, possibly some chipped/cracked bone inside by the look of it. The namekisan-jin woman wrapped her hands around the ankle, and closed her eyes, falling into a concentration trance.  
  
She didn't notice the disturbance in the air, or hear soft-soled footsteps behind her.  
  
---  
  
It took a full seven minutes to properly fix the wound, and when she finally snapped out of the trance, sweat beads dotted her brow. It's been much easier when she was poisoned, then she'd just had to use her chi to burn it out, but actually getting something this delicate right after nothing like it in a few years was draining.  
  
A smile lit her lips as she flexed the joint, checking to make sure she hadn't screwed up and accidentally crippled herself for life. Plopping onto her back, eyes closed briefly, she opened them again to get up, but stopped. There was something in her field of vision that hadn't been there before.....  
  
Tilting her head back further, her eyes met another's, and went wide, heart skipping a beat.  
  
The other just smiled gently, but she squealed aloud and jerked up, clutching her arms in a stranglehold almost about his neck and crying out his name frantically.  
  
Oboe's words stopped, though, when he touched a finger to her lips, and whispered in his own rasped tone "Shh. Don't cry, it's ok."  
  
"I'm not seeing things, am I?" came a quivering voice, but all the answer it got was a shake of a head.  
  
His smile was reflected against the shimmers in her eyes, and she just clutched him tighter, all her past sadness forgotten.  
  
He laughed slightly, prying her off a bit and saying "Hey, let me breathe, Oboe-chan!"  
  
The reply came in the form of a bright smile, and there was a moment of silence in the air, a soft, sweet silence, a beautiful silence, a gentle silence. In that moment, something washed over her, and she pulled her face a little closer, watching his eyes slide close, as did her own, and she hesitated for merely a second before closing the gap.  
  
BUT.  
  
In that second, something happened, and instead of meeting soft lips, she collapsed against the ground, face jarred so hard from the unexpected impact that it broke her nose. She didn't even notice it, though, but stared out, searching around desperately, trying to tell herself she hadn't just been dreaming, he'd felt so real....  
  
But to no avail- Piccolo was gone.  
  
---  
  
When Neru'd found what he'd been searching for, he was a bit confused. But nothing compared to the confusion and terror pumping through his mind now.  
  
He'd found his fellow sitting cross-legged on the 'ground', totally immobile and oblivious to his presence. Fearing something was wrong, Neru has shaken him out of it, and was about to ask what'd happened when Piccolo had whirled on him, clutching his throat, eyes furious beyond belief.  
  
Neru's face drained pale at the sight of such unfeigned rage thrown directly into his face, the dark onyx eyes seeming to burrow straight through his skull as Piccolo screamed "GODDAMNIT, YOU BASTARD!!!!!! How DARE you!!!!!"  
  
No reply came from the yellow-pale figure, quivering at the end of his grasp. He'd NEVER seen Pic this angry..... let alone directed at him. Piccolo continued, eyes narrowing as his voice fell dangerously low "Give me one good reason I shouldn't pop your head off right now."  
  
"B-but what did I-I-I do???" he stuttered, trying to gasp for breath he didn't need just out of impulse.  
  
The hands tightened around his throat, claws on the verge of puncturing his jugular, before they let loose suddenly and hurled him to the ground, voice still following with the same malice- "I was there, goddamnit, it took so long, but I was there, all I wanted to do was tell her it was alright, but then YOU-" at this point Neru felt a sharp pain in his ribs at a foot jabbed into them- "RUINED IT!!! You broke my concentration, asshole!"  
  
Piccolo's answer came in a hoarse whisper, it's speaker stopping halfway through to cough up a bit of blood from the treatment he'd been given- "You'd screamed earlier, I thought you were in trouble....... Wanted to help... how was I suppose to know what you were doing?"  
  
::silence::  
  
"I've told you before to leave me the hell alone. You, the old man, Son, everyone, but do you ever listen? NO! *kicks him again, hard, turns his back + crosses arms* Go, now. And don't speak to me. Next time, I snap your neck."  
  
Staring up in shock at the hunched shoulders and narrowed eyes of his counterpart told him this was not the time to joke, and he pulled himself to his feet, limping away without a word. Changed or not, Piccolo was not above murdering someone on a whim if it seemed him fit.  
  
---  
  
The decision had been made, and Vegeta had taken one direction. Son Gohan, on the other hand, went another way, while Lute took the third.  
  
Their 'mission' was simple- find out where Oboe'd gone, contact the others through mind speech, and go on their way. But noone had found her yet. Gohan didn't let that get him down, though.  
  
He stopped by a stream briefly, sitting down on the soft grass. It'd been about an hour or so ago she'd left to go think, promising to be back in half that time.  
  
The cool greenish liquid was comforting, and a quick drink identified it to have a sweet taste that made him smile. Too bad Earth's water wasn't like that... The young man plopped down by the bank, submerging his hands for a few seconds before running them through his hair, washing out a layer of dirt and sweat that'd settled there in the last few days. The halfling peered at his reflection, checked his teeth briefly out of habit enforced by his mother, and grinned upon noticing how he'd grown up looking a bit like his 'tousan. The smile faded down when he thought of the only other person he'd called that, in heart anyways- he'd never said it to his sensei's face.  
  
Another emotion arose at that thought, though, and as he leant back on the soft grass with arms folded behind his head and eyes closed, he imagined Videl's sweet, beautiful smiling face..... and as that image became more predominant in his thoughts, Piccolo's silent form faded away, until Gohan realized it and grasped for it, trying to call him back... which only narrowed Videl's eyes into a scowl. His mind tried to reason with her, but she just crossed her arms and kept her back to him. One part of his heart fell at that, but another rose, and a bright smile lit his face when he glanced his sensei behind him, stance the same as usual, with that half-smile he always gave the kid. But Piccolo's eyes narrowed in scorn, and the look on his face went bitter at the sight of the raven-haired girl. The halfling found himself torn again, between the man who'd been almost everything to him, and the woman who'd been the one thing Piccolo could never be....  
  
Gohan jerked up, in a cold sweat. A quick pinch of his cheek old him he was awake again, and he moaned softly in aggravation as he buried his head in his hands. Not that dream again..... Ever since he'd heard Piccolo had almost killed himself, the same dream kept reappearing in his mind, over and over. It'd been his fault..... if only he hadn't ignored him so much.... Even though the suicide had never come to be, (stopped short by a certain namekisan-jin woman tripping where she'd been hiking on a cliff face above and coming plopping down 20 feet away), the guilt of 'what if-' didn't ever fade...  
  
{{Who cares about that right now, just go look for Oboe.}} stated his logic, and the child of Goku pulled himself back up, pushed it out of his mind (like always), and continued on his way. There were things to be done.  
  
---  
  
Limping.  
  
He hadn't been in such a state since he almost died at the hands of Freezer. And then his aecha's husband nearly kills him for a reason he still couldn't quite understand.  
  
Neru was in real pain. It didn't matter that he was dead, getting your ribs kicked in still hurt like hell. As did being held so tightly by the throat that his head would have popped like a cork if Piccolo'd put much more pressure on his grip.  
  
Black eye, bruised legs, broken ribs, he'd really gotten it this time....  
  
He yelped in shock when his knee gave out, sending him collapsing down with quite a 'thud'. Biting back a scream at this point, he clutched the leg fiercely to his chest, trying to get the thudding sensation that set the dull ache on fire to quit, but no such luck, and he cried out.  
  
In an instant, he heard another limb crack, his arm, and jerked his head around in disbelief to see Piccolo's narrowed eyes staring him down.  
  
"I told you to leave me alone." was all Neru heard, and before he could object, the other had set upon him, not even giving him the chance to scream.  
  
---  
  
Kami had been sitting in the kitchen with Bubbles, getting something off the top shelf for the little one when he heard it, a rustling sound, coming from the other room. It didn't really catch his attention, though, and he finished searching for the fruit jar the simian wanted, handing it to Bubbles.  
  
The old god just smiled, leaning on his staff as he watched Bubbles try to pry the top off with his little hands, a great look of triumph coming over the little furry features at reaching success. With a chuckle, he strolled back into the other room, looking back over to the corner the mat was in. Then he went quiet.  
  
The younger man was far worse then he'd been when he had left. Kami cursed himself aloud for the selfishness of his actions, and looked over him-  
  
The paleness had returned to his skin threefold, and his features had gone ridged, hands grasping at the cloth desperately, a wavering, pained moan escaping from his throat occasionally as he tossed and turned, sweat beading down his elegant green form, which almost looked piteous now, the usual strength contrasted by the twisted look of pain on his face, closed eyes twitching.  
  
Something was deathly wrong with him, and, if the guardian didn't act now, he'd loose him. Kami became a bit desperate, cursing himself again for never learning any healer's methods in all his years, and just clutched one of the man's shoulders, feeling the shudders running up the young form. He was fading, but not from the outside....  
  
Falling back on desperate chance, the god laid a hand on Piccolo's head and the other over his heart, forcing as powerfully as he could the mental message of 'get up child!' into the fading soul.  
  
Piccolo's eyes twitched again, fluttering almost open before slipping shut again. Kami just repeated his message, and did so three more times before another thought popped into his mind, and he sent it into the younger-  
  
'Listen, you can't die child, what about Gohan, Lute, Oboe? You're not going to leave them behind, are you?'  
  
Kami felt the shudders stop, and pulled away, watching his struggles cease as soon as the words touched his internal 'ears'. And waited.  
  
---  
  
The first thing that met his eyes was a swirling darkness, and a pounding headache that hurt almost as much as when Nappa had practically smashed in his skull when he'd grabbed his tail. Without opening his eyes, Piccolo groaned, clutched a hand to his head, and pulled himself into a sitting position, mind blurry. Only after a few seconds adjusting to the throbbing feeling did he slide his eyes open haphazardly, the world around him spinning for a second before straightening out.  
  
First, he was confused by his location- last he'd remembered, he was outside in the rain, sneezing and complaining in a soaked gi. Now he was in a bed in a small room, naked except for a sheet that'd gathered low around his hips when he sat up, it was bright outside (the view from the window across from him said that), and Kami-sama was in the far corner, watching him gravely.  
  
Piccolo cocked an eye over in his direction, but his head hurt too much to really care, and he shaded his eyes from the brightness with the back of a hand while he slumped back onto the mat, other arm sprawled haphazardly on the ground and muttered half-heartedly "I'll kick your ass later old man, right now just tell me what the hell is going on, and give me my pants back."  
  
  
  
  
~~~NOTE- Oh, and I'd like to greatly thank the writer of my 18th review *nods* . It's the first I've gotten in months, I'd begun to think noone cared anymore, and I'm glad to know that's not true //.^ Until later then. ~~~  



	58. Mind games

Chapter 58

A flare of light traveled across the landscape, the man's eyes closed in contemplation as he just let his ki sense guide him. The ground below passed in a familiar flash of green, blue, tan, and the unfamiliar addition of magenta.

"Just about the shade of her outfit," Gohan chuckled, thinking of the pants that usually went with Oboe's gi.

Then he opened his eyes again, smiling down. He liked the flowers. Dende's words came to mind again, like they had when they'd just landed on Namek, and a grin slipped over his face. Wait till the little guy heard this!

Laughter filled the sky as Gohan-chan burst by, his earlier confusion gone in the happiness of flying.

---

Dark eyes blinked, and the adolescent held a hand over them to shade them from the twin suns. He scanned the horizon, trying to locate something.

"Yo, Hiku, see him yet?" called out a voice from below.

"No Chui, seems anoco was pretty mad at him, he's making him go all the way to Oshta to get the water today."

"WHAT????? OSHTA??? That's MILES from here!!"

Hiku pushed off the roof, landing gracefully on one knee, followed by Chui's definite 'plop' as he messed up at the end again, toppling head over heels. The shorter boy glanced back, and after one look at the taller Nameksei-jin sprawled out on his stomach, cape twisted around him and eyes still spinning, couldn't help but crack up.

"HEY!" Chui shouted in indignance. "That's not funny, damnit!! Stop laughing!!"

---

Another pair of ears far distanced from those assaulted with Hiku's laughter merely listened nonchalantly to what he was being told.

Once Kami had said about 'something inside' being wrong, it'd all come back to him--the whiteness, the aggravation, Neru getting in his way, and the almost-kiss from Oboe-san...

Piccolo hadn't paid a bit of attention upon realizing that, but didn't bother to say this, so Kami kept speaking for five minutes further before being interrupted with a grumble of "Where's my canteen, anyway? I had it in my gi last time I saw it."

"It's in the fridge," the god answered, and he stood up to get it when Piccolo pushed himself up and walked straight out of the room without so much as a thought or a word.

Kami's antennae shot up in shock at this, and he stared into the kitchen, where the younger was leaning over the white shape in the wall, disdain clear in his eyes as he shuffled through the contents, murmuring "Crap, crap, crap, c-- ah, there!" and pulled out the skin he always kept with him. Brushing off anything that might have gotten on it, he sighed and leaned against the wall with one arm, taking a deep drink. The light coming in the open windows played off his emerald skin, giving it a luster that deeply contrasted the darkness in his eyes.

The old god was still shocked from speech for a few moments, but then he burst out with, "What are you DOING?"

Piccolo cocked an eyeridge in his direction, and stated flatly, "Getting a drink. What did you think I was doing?"

"I would have gotten it for you, idiot! You didn't need to get up, you need to rest!"

Then one of the younger man's eyes rolled over in his direction, and he said in the same tone "I noticed that," but with sarcasm biting in his voice this time. Adjusting his stance so the other arm was supporting him now, he added, "I don't need to rest unless I want to, and I don't want you touching my stuff anymore than you already have"  
-  
(there use to be more here, but not now. I usually leave the fic alone as-is. But this was absolutely the most insulting, morionic, shameful thing I have EVER thought would work in a fic. so it's gone. For story's sake I'll just tell you Pic was pissed at Kami and said dumb shit to upset him before leaving to go back outside. Now on with the silly chapter)  
---

Vegeta was thinking to himself still when he glimpsed the shape sprawled out on the ground. At first he didn't even recognize it for what it was, but the glint of Oboe's earrings made him take a second look.

He landed easily on the blue grass, and treaded over slowly, squatting down to see her better. A light tap of his fingers on the back of her head didn't bring any reaction, so he tried a harder one, and ended up cuffing her soundly before drawling one--an empty-hearted "What?"

"What happened to you--got mowed over by a bus?" he remarked snidely, but not harshly.

Oboe didn't answer, in words at least, but turned her head slightly--teary, dirt and blood-smeared, nose crooked from a break that hadn't been treated, and downtrodden to an extreme. Veg didn't need any words to know she'd had a bad day.

But she still murmured, "I don't know, really...just had the strangest dream... I could have sworn I saw him..."

"Shh," the Sayian whispered, putting a finger to his lips. "No need to say anything. I can guess." And, reaching down, he hoisted her up and let her lean on his shoulders while she fixed her nose and got her bearings back.

---

By the time Gohan'd flown back to their meeting spot, the others were already there waiting. He wanted to ask what had happened, but a look in her eyes and a precautionary glare from Vegeta told him everything--and it wasn't something to be asked. They needed to go on.

---

Lute's big green eyes scanned the ground, looking for a village that the others might have missed. Nope.

Everyone was back in the air again, his anocha as his anoco, and on the way to the "Arushinchu"--the two-star ball. They'd been flying for about half an hour, but still nothing. Gohan-san had explained it to him--"You know, Namek is a big planet, and there aren't alot of Namekians. They like to keep the planet from being abused, so only certain spots where there's not much plant growth are used for villages. They don't want to hurt more than they have to."

"Who told 'ya that, Gohan-san?" he'd perked up, interested.

The halfling just chuckled at that point and said, "Your mother."

Reflecting on that, the little one just shrugged and sighed. He wanted to get there NOW, so they could get the dragonball, and the next, and the next, until they could summon the dragon and he could see his 'pops again.

Being six, though, didn't give him much patience to drawl from, and he started fidgeting again, occupying himself by counting in Namekian.

Vegeta's ears caught the strange sound, and upon locating the source, stared oddly at the kid.

"And what might you be doing?"

"Counting," he replied, matter-of-factly.

"Counting what?"

"The little hairs on your bald head."

'oO ...' was all Vegeta had to say at first, but then a stifled giggle to the left caught his attention, and he swerved around, shouting, "Oh, and like you've got such glorious locks yourself, green bean!"

Instead of who he thought it was, though, his eyes greeted Gohan's clueless face, and another voice burst out laughing.

"Shut up!" he demanded, but the two comments together had been too much for Oboe to bear.

Finally, he just crossed his arms indignantly, cursing under his breath about idiots to a chorus of chuckles.

NOTES- first, I'd like to address a name problem- as I just discovered, the 'sushinchu' is the FOUR star ball, not the two. I'll be updating chapter 48 with the correct information once I get the chance. 'arushinchu' is the real two-star ball.  
-  



	59. (day)dream

___Chapter 59___   
  
~~~NOTE- Song in the opening- "Dance with you", by LIVE. Musical inspiration for the rest- "Somewhere in between", by Lifehouse ~~~   
  
Music filled the room, a soft-sweet atmosphere prevailing because of it. Twilight and a lamp in the corner provided all the illumination for a single figure sitting upon the pastel sheets, swaying slowly sideways.   
  
Her face was of peace, her lips moving in silence along with the words to the music around her, the memories they brought making her eyes sparkle as she swayed slightly back and forth, playing her fingers across a framed rose. Only briefly did the expression leave her face, when she stopped to re-set the track that was playing back to number 13.   
  
That settled, she giggled slightly, and reached down to pick up a sketch journal she'd left lying there, undid the lock, and flipped through the smooth pages to one image in particular, which she'd just added in a few days ago.....   
  
Before she could really look at it though, the pages fluttered to another in a slight gust- Oboe's head turned to the now-open window, occupied by a tall shape slipping in.   
  
"Veggie kept you late tonight?" she chuckled, watching Piccolo's expression flash a bit sheepish, but he didn't say anything yet, and just pulled himself the rest of the way it.   
  
"Sorry, we got caught up at Son's place, and I lost track of the time." he answered quietly, closing the glass and plopping down for a seat next to her.   
  
Oboe cast him a sideways grin, and whispered "Apology accepted." as she laid a little kiss on his cheek, getting his smile in return.   
  
"So, besides Vegeta consuming twice his weight in vodka at the bar, anything interesting happen?"   
  
"*stifles a laugh* Nah, same as always- wandered around for a while, sparred, insulted each other, sparred, plotted on how to get back at the kids if they play another prank on us, sparred, drove Bulma nuts by fighting too close to the corp. and nearly punching her mother out when she surprised us to give us cookies, and went over to Son's bar. You?"   
  
The namekisan-jin woman blinked twice, digesting all that, and shrugged. "Went to see Yen and Tienshin, then the two of us stopped over to see Bulma and heard all about the incident from her."   
  
By then the song had ended again, and Oboe reached down to re-set it, but Piccolo did for her. She smiled her thanks, and leant back against the pillows, but stood up to fix the part of the sheets she'd mussed. Piccolo spoke, but she didn't quite hear him, until he said "Hey, you drawl anything else lately?" and she jerked her head up to see him paging through the sketchbook.   
  
"NO!" she shouted, grabbing for it, but before she could get it away from him, he flipped to the last page and his jaw promptly dropped.   
  
Oboe finally managed to get it away from him and re-set the lock, shoving it under the bed and hoping he'd missed it, but the look on his face told her she had no such luck.   
  
"So, how mad was Bulma, anyways?" she asked, trying to change the subject. Piccolo wouldn't have it. Before a word passed his lips, she knew what they were-   
  
'What the hell was THAT suppose to be?'   
'This isn't sketched off a few nights ago, is it?'   
'God, I'm still confused enough about that, and then you go and DRAWL us?'   
'Why the hell did you put this in, anyway?'   
  
She cringed in anticipation of all of it, but nothing came for ten seconds. Then a hand slipped over her shoulder, turning her around, and her eyes quickly locked on his quiet face.   
  
"It doesn't do you justice." was all he said, a smile alighting with the light blush on his cheeks.   
  
Oboe stared openmouthed at the reaction, but not for long, as her mouth was covered gently by another.   
  
~~~~~~~   
  
She jerked awake suddenly, sweat beading her brow. For a moment she could still almost feel his hands against her back, pressing her close, but the dream vanished as a beam of light from the outside struck her eyes, grounding her back in reality.   
  
Oboe swallowed slightly, blushing a bit more than that. Another one of..... those dreams. Covering her face with her hands, she tried to banish the strange future she'd seen, knowing that this was no time for erotica to take over.   
  
Oboe got up tentatively so as not to wake Lute, and once outside, buried her hands in the grass, letting her thoughts fade away in the familiar smell and aura of her homeworld.   
  
{{Strange...}} her subconscious whispered before she faded out into meditation, {{Even though I've never seen him like that, I always seem to know what he looks like...}}   
  
---   
  
Gohan's eyes met the new day with silence, his form perched atop the small house, taking in the sight of the suns lighting the atmosphere brightly. No rain today. All around him was the splendors of living things and life itself, and his soul harbored a peace in the knowledge that a people could live in such a simple world anymore.   
  
The peace was interrupted abruptly when the door opened below him, a figure fleeing out and falling to it's knees in the grass. Oboe-san bowed her head, hiding her face from the daylight and beauty all around her, fingers slipping through the silky grass as her aura calmed into a relaxed state. The halfling knew better than to bother her, and so watched the clouds overhead instead, forgetting his tendency to daydream...   
  
~~~~~~~   
  
Running through the tall grass, laughing out loud, the teenager appeared as a blur to anyone who saw him, but since he was in the middle of nowhere, noone did. He didn't care that much either- he loved this place, he loved it more that anywhere in the world, this is where he'd lived his whole life, where he'd grown up, where the three most important people in the world to him were- his mother, father, and father in spirit- all in the shadows of these strange hills and valleys. The wind whipped through his wild raven hair, sending it cascading behind him in the same way it tugged at his violet gi, his shape flying like it over the plains.   
  
The flow stopped abruptly as he came to a stop atop the highest peak, and his eyes soaked in the splendor around him, colored in the hues of the sunrise that warmed his skin as well.   
  
Gohan plopped down, trying to suppress the broad grin on his features for a moment, but with no luck. Ah, what the hell, who cared anyway. The morning was too beautiful to be bothered with unbrushed teeth. The smile on his lips fell, however, when he remembered what the day was. He was going off to high school today, in the city.   
  
City.   
  
What a weird word.   
  
City.   
  
He'd never really been to the city, and the few times he had weren't good experiences- not really bad, but just... there. Now he was gonna live there, for years. City was such a weird word out here, amid the pure nature of the desert, it seemed like a dream he'd had but forgotten ages ago. City.   
  
Shaking his head violently to banish that bizarre word for just a moment more before it became all he knew, before this life seemed the dream, the halfling clenched his teeth and covered his face in his hands, sighing deeply into his palms. He didn't WANT to go, but he had no choice, him mother had said that in not-so-many-words ever since he was little. He'd been able to 'waste his life with those heathens of his father's friends all these years, so long as he got a real education later', and now the time was up. He'd finished grade school, there'd been no threat to the world since then, and he was going off, no questions.   
  
He hated it. He didn't want to go, to leave all his closest friends behind so long, but a promise is a promise, and he'd promised her so many times...   
  
A breeze flickered past his face, and he glanced up, confused as to it's origin, but a glimpse of the tall emerald form beside him answered the question.   
  
"Hey kid." he whispered nonchalantly, glancing down from the corner of his eyes to the smiling boy.   
  
Gohan didn't reply at first, just grinned at the sight of his sensei. Piccolo broke the silence, however-   
  
"So kid, what brings you out here at this time?"   
  
The smile playing across the halfling's lips seemed to sum it all up, but the look was forced, as was the unconcerned tone in his voice. "To watch the sunrise."   
  
A sigh.   
  
"Nice try."   
  
Sheepishly, Gohan looked up at him, asking "Am I that obvious?"   
  
"Yes. I know you better than that, Gohan." He knelt down as to look him in the eyes, and whispered "What's wrong?"   
  
No reply, just the child looking away.   
  
That didn't last long, though, as a familiar hand touched his chin, turning back to face those quiet eyes and their bearer's voice- "It's about school, isn't it?"   
  
A nod.   
  
"You think we'll forget you, don't you?"   
  
Another nod.   
  
At that the face flashed a look of concern, and he narrowed his eyes slightly, shaking his head. "No way in hell, kid." he said, smiling sadly, "If you think I'm gonna forget you just because you're gone four years, you're crazy."   
  
"Huh?"   
  
"How COULD I?" Piccolo's voice had flared a bit there, an almost anger coming over him, but he let it slide, the next words coming much more softly "You're everything to me, kid."   
  
Gohan went completely quiet at that, and the silent sadness in the corners of his sensei's dark eyes that he didn't quiet understand. Usually he could interpret the unspoken in the namek's words, but not this time, so he pushed it aside and merely asked "You really mean that?"   
  
"Of course I do." came the reply instantly and sincerely.   
  
Then a grin passed the boy's face and he lunged forward, catching him in a big hug and calling out cheerfully "Piccolo-san daisuki!!!!!", grinning in his father's childish genuine manner.   
  
The namekian half-froze, he hadn't been expecting that, but he adapted quickly enough, letting a half-smile slide over his lips and his arms reach out to tentatively hug the boy back. "Whatever you say, little one." he whispered, an amused tone to his voice.   
  
Gohan had glomped him, expecting to get shoved away, but when he hadn't been, his happiness had soared. He really WAS cared for!!! Piccolo-san had never hugged him back before, this was great!! All thoughts of being forgotten slipped out of his mind, and as for the first time he felt his sensei's heartbeat, he was lulled into a peaceful sleep...   
  
~~~~~~~   
  
A gust of wind slamming into his face jerked him out of his little daydream, and Gohan shivered, cursing to himself for zoning out again. Stepping down off the structure, he sighed, burying his face in a hand, muttering to himself as his eyes began to water "It's just the wind, just the wind......"   
  
---   
  
Curled up peacefully between a group of blankets and pillows, Lute didn't notice Gohan walk in and wake up Vegeta, only poking his head out when the sayian grabbed him by a foot and pulled him into the air, chuckling "Ok, get up smartass."   
  
"HEY!" the little namekian shouted in the indignance of being held upsi-down, folding his arms, mock-glaring at his captor and sticking his tongue out. Vegeta took one look at the display, blinked twice, and cracked up.   
  
"DAMN you are one funny kid!" he chuckled in-between bites of breakfast, and set Lute down on the ground after finishing what was in his mouth. Once settled again, Lute grinned and saluted, affirming the statement with a "Hell yeah!"   
  
Breakfast went calmly for a moment, but the sayian-jin prince glanced back to the little one in the corner and sighed.   
  
{{Funny, he's really nothing like Piccolo..... How the hell did the brick wall raise him without going nuts? *chuckles* Namek, you've really got your work cut out for you with this one, but I'll be damned if I'm not starting to like him as well. Heh, wait till you come back and I've taught him a couple of my tricks, between the two of us you might be forced out of your shell more often...... *sighs, clinks the bottom of his drink against the table, leaning his head on his shoulder* And I'll be damned if we don't find that next village soon. Why can't those bakas can't build them closer together? And why hasn't my hair grown back yet? Oh shit, it'd better come back before we're done, I'll never hear the end of it from you if it doesn't! But... eh, maybe I'll leave it bald for a while, let you have a laughs before I kick your ass and grow it back. How's that sound? Good? *twitches, mentally smacks himself* Well, Pic, I hope you're happy, I really AM going senile before I hit 40, talking to myself like this.. *rollseyes* }}   
  
Vegeta sighed, and was about to continue his one-sided mental conversation when he noticed Oboe standing over him, eyeing him oddly.   
  
"What are YOU looking at?" he snapped in self defense, but she just chuckled, shrugged her shoulders, and grabbed a canteen from the fridge.   
  
---   
  
Soon enough, the four were set and off again, flying through the green sky.   
  
  
~~NOTE~~ First off, I have an important message- *glomps Oboe* HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY, GIRL!!! *grinz* Yup, as of today, my namekian lady's been around for two years, and I'm cutting this chapter a bit short so I can get it out today. Hey, I'll get some more Veggie and Lute contemplation in here soon enough.   
-   
Next, before anyone says I broke my oath in chapter 29 way back when with the beginning here- that wasn't graphic, was it? It wasn't a lemon, lime, orange, or whatever fruit you'd wish to label it, it was merely a sweet little moment with some innuendo. I don't ever plan on writing anything more graphic that that, so be happy. Unless I get the most amazing, flattering, well-written letter begging and bribing with ficart, that is... which isn't happening. *laughs*   
-   
Last- Noticed alot of Pic + Gohan stuff coming off my keyboard lately? Well, it's because of a few stories I've read in the last week that's got me totally hooked on these two (not that I wasn't before), whether they're paired as lovers or not. The fics are "For the love of Gohan" and "With you, without you", by Tomo-chan. Read them, worship them, now. If you don't mind shonen-ai, thou. *shrugs* I love the stuff. And there's a quick tribute in the chapter to the illustrious Kosh here (let me know if anyone spots it)- another wonderful P/G author, but for those who aren't so easy around shonen-ai. Ciao. ~~ 


	60. Justice and emmotions

___Chapter 60___  
  
~~NOTE- musical inspiration, "Sex & Violence", by Stone Temple Pilots. Eugh, Just watched Zim, I'm giddy today, so pardon me if this chapter's a bit off the wall. *chews gum, starts typing* Oh, and I'm calling #18 by her full name 'Juanchigou' as well now. I know I'm spelling it wrong, someone correct me please. ~~~  
  
"No... way..... That... that isn't possible!!!"  
  
"I know, I know, but it's happening... *cowers* I'm so scared...."  
  
"He can't possibly mean this, it's gotta be some sort of sick joke!"  
  
"Oh SHUTUP!!! It's not funny anymore girls, I'm just not hungry."  
  
The ladies, all letting out mock-gasps (Bulma pretending to faint), and after one last look at Son's annoyed/exasperated face, broke into fits of giggles. All except one.  
  
All eight heads swerved around at once upon the faint sound of a cutesy 'achoo!' and three of them watched in dumbfoundment as the other five's eyes doubled in size before they all hit the deck.  
  
Videl, Yen, and Juanchigou only stood there, blinking, staring at the others ducked behind any cover they could find. Yen was about to kneel down and ask what was going on when the truck came flying straight at them, a wild blond woman with an Uzi laughing maniacally and splaying the ground around them with gunfire.   
  
The two standing (#18 had only needed to hear the bullets whiz right over her head and between her legs before calmly sitting down behind a rock) immediately facefaulted and were about to scream when Goku and Bulma grabbed them by their ankles, yanking them down into the cover of an upturned stone slab before the next volley spewed by.  
  
"What the HELL was THAT!!!" Videl squeaked in shock, frazzled by everything that seemed to be happening so quickly, "I thought Ranchi had the truck!! Who's that crazy woman?"  
  
"Ranchi." The blue-and-black haired duo replied simultaneously, before Bulma slapped the sayian for interrupting her and continued "It's Ranchi. Something must have made her sneeze, and she went Launch on us, instead of her usual Lunch self."  
  
All she got was blank stares.  
  
Bulma sighed and continued "When Ranchi sneezes, she flips between personalities. Lunch is the sweet, purple-haired form, and Launch is the crazy blond with a gun ever at her side."  
  
"OH!" Yen shouted, slapping herself. "Silly me. Yeah, Ten-san told me that."  
  
"Well, Gohan didn't!!" Videl shouted, still squeaking.  
  
"*sighs* It was before your time, kid. Damn does that make me feel old..."  
  
---  
  
Krillan glanced down from his rock perch, jiggling the coffee mug in his hands and listening in on the conversation between the two that unknowingly were serving as his free ride. He'd wanted to get to the other side of the Tenkai but had been too tired to walk, so he'd sneaked on top of Tien + Yumcha's next load. The monk grinned to himself for his cleverness, and kept an ear on the conversation-  
  
"Hey, Tien?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Did you hear something?"  
  
"Hear something?"  
  
"Yeah, just then, like a scream or something, followed by laughter."  
  
"Probably just the kids again, you know how those three are, like when they scared the crap out of us all a while back. Remember?"  
  
"*nods* I thought it was that thing, back from the dead.... again. *sweatdrops* Whatever it was called again."  
  
"Kartar, or something, I think."  
  
"Kar..... pin?"  
  
"? No, but it was something like that."  
  
"Kar.... ah, screw it, who cares?? It terrified us all, destroyed the sanctuary and killed Pic, which is why we're here slaving our asses off and the others are missing. That's all that matters, getting everything back together."  
  
"...*cocks an eye at him* Pic? Since when do you call him 'Pic'?"  
  
"I felt like it, ok? *sighs* I wish this hadn't happened......"  
  
"We all do, Yumcha."  
  
::silence::  
  
"Tien?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Is it just me, or is there something strange about her, about Oboe?"  
  
"..... I really don't know, Yumcha."  
  
"Ok, 'caus I've never heard much about her. Piccolo isn't inclined to speak about anything personal, and I've never really spoken to her myself. Something about her scares me."  
  
"Really?"  
  
At that last comment, five eyes turned up to stare at Krillan, who was trying to look inconspicuous after blowing his cover. With a weak "Hehe, um, well... hey, I can explain!", he sat his mug down and was about to try to weasel his way out of carrying the rock all by himself when a whizzing sound lances through the air, the bullet hitting the cup and shattering it into a million pieces.  
  
All three sets of eyes stared in blank shock at the shattered porcelain before Krillan screeched and dove for cover, knowing all-too-well that was going on. He huddled underneath the slab the two had been carrying, which had been (accidentally) laid down in such a way that an almost cave was below it within the maze of rubble that still stood on this end of the sanctuary.  
  
Soon after, he saw the other two dive in, Tien grabbing another rock to block the entrance and panting heavily, clearly terrified. Yumcha was too busy checking for holes that would let air in but not bullets.  
  
Nonchalantly, Krillan clicked his fingers, beckoning a small ki ball to light the dark cave, and dusted off a flat stone in front of him, reaching for something in his pockets.  
  
The two just watched him in confusion, but when the monk started dealing out three hands for poker, they shrugged, took 'seats' around the 'table', and prepared for a long wait... 'Caus with Launch on the loose, they weren't going anywhere for the time being.  
  
"Yumcha, your girlfriend's a nut."  
  
"I KNEW THAT!"  
  
---  
  
Back and forth, to and fro, along on their nice little lives, without a care in the world. There was no threat of fighting, no money to raise greed, no threat of war or violence or division among these peaceful people.  
  
It made Oboe's heart ache in the greatest way, to know that she had lost that sort of carefree life, those friends and times long gone for her. Never again would she be able to sit by that grand tree with her brother and friend, reveling in the smallest pleasures of life, never again would her ears ring with Palidor's bright ringing laughter or Damaiou's quiet chuckle......  
  
Or not?  
  
After all, every time she looked at her son, she saw her brother's spirit as plain as day, his soft-yet-sarcastic attitude and explosive laughter mingled in the child's small form and large green eyes.... As of Damaiou? Well, Pikkoro WAS his.... son, in a sense....  
  
Oboe shook her head violently, banishing ideals she didn't want to attack her right now, not wanting to try to justify falling in love with her best friend's son for the thousandth time, and instead dropped to the center of the village, followed shortly by the others.  
  
---  
  
Vegeta glanced around haphazardly, glad to see there weren't any stupid-ass brats hanging around to mimic the fiasco that had ensued the last time they'd entered one of these villages, and he tapped his foot as 'Piccolo' walked up to one of the villagers- some bastard in one of those silly dress {{Robe? No, that is a DRESS.}} things- to ask where the village elder was.  
  
The man, for he was that, not young enough for an adolescent yet not old enough for an elder, pointed toward a hut toward his left. Oboe nodded her thanks, and was walking off when he called out something in namekian after her.  
  
Oboe paused for a second, staring at him, but the man broke into a nearly musical laughter and walked off, leaving a smile lighting her face as she knocked on the door.  
  
{{And what was THAT about?}} the sayian hissed to himself, cocking his eye in confusion at not being able to understand anything that was said around him, but that was stilled when Oboe waved them over to where she was standing before stepping into the house.  
  
He rolled his eyes, moving his hand subconsciously to smooth his hair back as he walked, but smacked himself at remembering what'd happened. Cursing and muttering under his breath about debts, he strolled nonchalantly to the hut, holding to what dignity he had left at the moment.  
  
---  
  
The room was fairly large, yet like the other plain, the focus of attention being the low-slung table in the center made of the same white material as the hut itself. Gohan took his seat on the floor, adjusting his position to sitting on his feet so he could be more comfortable- it was low-slung alright, but that word had different meanings in a culture where people were regularly seven feet tall.  
  
He barely noticed as Lute plopped down on his lap or Vegeta trudged in and leant against the wall, as his eyes were on the form that was his sensei and the elder, a quiet old man with a friendly expression to his voice.  
  
A growl pulled his attention to the side, and he looked at Vegeta, the sayian obviously flustered at not being able to understand what was being said.  
  
"GODDAMNIT NAMEK, SPEAK NORMAL!" he shouted in indignance, "NOT THAT NAMEKIAN CRAP!!"  
  
Oboe shot him a hard glare, said something that sounded like an apology to the elder, and turned to face him, hissing "Oh, so you could understand and he couldn't? He only speaks namek-go, baka, and it's nothing you would care about anyway! I have to basically repeat the same thing everywhere I go, and if anything important is said, I'll tell you! Now LET ME FINISH!" At that she mock-slapped his face, cuffing his ears before walking back to the far end of the table. The elder and 'Piccolo' only said a few more words before taking their seats, but Vegeta didn't like the look on Oboe's face- it was almost impish.  
  
He was about to ask what was going on again when Lute piped in "He said he's sorry for the interruption, but you're a jackass and he had to shut you up."  
  
Vegeta's jaw dropped.  
  
"WHAT?????"  
  
Oboe shot Lute a slight glare, but the child continued anyway- "I know some namekian, 'pops was teaching me it before all this happened."  
  
"That damn woman called ME a jackass??"  
  
Before another word could pass his lips, Vegeta found himself pinned against the wall, a hand bigger that his face against his throat, leaving him dangling a few feet above the ground, staring into a furious yet slightly pale emerald face. The laughter was gone.  
  
"You. IDIOT." hissed Piccolo's dark rasped voice, even though the soul behind those eyes was different, it still sounded the same, "I said he didn't understand it, but the others in the village can. Don't you dare slip like that again, or I swear, I WILL kill you, sayian. Don't think I'm kidding. I am going to get him back if I have to kill my own people, let alone you."  
  
Vegeta's eyes flew wide, and he nearly lost himself in those furious orbs. This wasn't the meek happy little woman that called herself his friend's lover. This was a totally different being, like something...... like something possessed. He didn't remember what happened next, he just remembered nodding meekly and hoping those eyes would avert themselves before he screamed.  
  
Everything else in the room passed as a blur, and he stumbled out, collapsing to his feet once outside, panting.  
  
{{Oh gods... What's going on??? One moment she's lying in the dirt crying like a little child, the next she's... Piccolo, you'd better get your ass back here soon, something's happening to that girl, something twisted, I have NEVER been truly frightened by ANYONE, but there's something seriously wrong in those eyes.....}}  
  
---  
  
Far off in both distance and time Vegeta's fear was unknown, as was Oboe's rage, yet in another pair of eyes like those she wore, the emotion was ever further separated.  
  
Oboe was furious.  
  
Piccolo was damn-near exuberant.  
  
As he stood out on the opposite end of the planet, like he had short days ago, he felt none of the irritation or disgust he had before, his face the furthest it'd ever been from the scowl he'd born then. A twisted rigid grin on his face to match the unfeigned glee in his narrowed eyes, he stared out at the basic nothingness without a care in the world...  
  
"Feh, if only I could see that old bastard's face!" he laughed out, speaking to noone but himself, "He's probably holed up in there crying like the sentimental sharukus he is!!" He leant roughly against s tree, his cape twining around him as he crossed his arms, the next words in his mind going unsaid to himself- {{I had to leave, though, or I would have burst out laughing in his face and ruined it, have to play the game well if it's to break his goddamn soul before he can realize what's going on...}}  
  
He sighed contentedly, reveling in a side of himself he had nearly forgotten about since befriending Son's child. Even after all these years, he still had it.  
  
For a second, his face flashed silent remorse- if what Neru'd told him was true, then Kami was once a part of someone Oboe had once cared about deeply, but his current state of mind forced him to drop the question, luring him back to the twisted sadistic sort of mindset he hadn't lived in since his younger days, when he'd lived to kill Son Goku and rule over the world in his father's name. It was an enticing feeling, and he followed it, his eyes once again returning to his old glint. Justice would be done- he was going to break that old man in any way possible. 


	61. Blood and water

Chapter 61

NOTE- musical inspiration, "For Nancy ('cos it already is)" and "strange condition" by Pete Yorn.

Lute's big green eyes danced over the scene before him, jaw gaped. HIM, do the next test???? No way they'd let him do something that important!!! He shot his confusion toward his mother in the form of a barely audible "huh?" that squeaked by his lips after a few moments of silence.

Oboe pointedly ignored the way Gohan facefaulted in laughter at the child's face, and instead just stepped over and knelt down, ruffling his antennae gently. "Yes, I mean you. I trust you, Lute, I know you can do this." she said silently, a faint smile on her lips.

The smile returned, abit different in the face of the young boy compared to his father's older visage.

"So, what do I do?" he piped up, grinning from ear to ear. Finally, after all this time, he was going to be able to help out!!

---

"No WAY you won again!!!"

"Yeah Krillan, listen to Yumcha, will you?"

"chuckles no, no, that's what the cards say, and the cards are always right, so fork it over!"

"But you already cleaned us out, idiot!"

"OW!! Hey, you hit me, scar-boy!"

"Yeah I did, and I will again, you're getting on my nerves, beating us so much!"

::poke::

"OW!!"

::pokepokepoke::

"HEY, no fair, that's a double team, leggo!"

"Give us our money back you little monk!"

"You lost it fair and square, accept it!"

"But how are we suppose to play if we don't have any money?"

"Um... I dunno. OW!! STOP THE POKING, STOP THE POKING!!!!"

---

A pair of soft-soled shoes patted quietly over the forest floor, being careful not to upset the ground around them. The wind whipped gently through the leaves, sending a quick flurry of cherry-tree petals floating over his trail, and a smile to his lips.

A sigh.

He stared up at the bright blue sky, at the fluffy white clouds floating by, and plopped down on his back upon reaching a field scattered with every color imaginable, and sighed, closing his eyes for what seemed only a second before two voices started calling out his name.

"Dende!!"

"Yo, Dende, where are you?"

"Over her, guys." he called out, not even bothering to open his eyes- there wasn't any question as to who the voices belonged to- as two chi signatures came close and plopped down on either side of him.

He only looked back up when Goten shook his shoulder roughly, and did so begrudgingly- it had been so nice and peaceful with nothing much to think about.

The young namekian pulled himself back into a sit and glanced toward the black-haired halfling, asking "Yes? What did you want?"

"To see if you're awake."

Dende was about to shout something at him for being so rude, but then he saw the goofy grin on Goten's face and smiled in kind. This was no time for that.

The three spent the rest of the afternoon in silence, cloudgazing in the open field and letting the whole crazy world drift away for a few hours.

-  
(there use to be more here, but not now. I usually leave the fic alone as-is. But this was absolutely the most insulting, morionic, shameful thing I have EVER thought would work in a fic. so it's gone. For story's sake I'll just tell you Pic was pissed at Kami and said dumb shit to upset him. Now on with the silly chapter)  
---

"Mmheh, uh-huh, hmn, hmnnnn... ok!"

Gohan was left blinking in confusion as Lute pooled over the words he knew, thinking over his options and finally grinning and agreeing, before saying something in namekian to the elder, who laughed good-naturedly.

The halfling shrugged, and politely sipped his tea. He was as annoyed as Vegeta at being left out of the conversation so much, but unlike the sayian, he could control his temper.

Thinking of what had happened, he shook involuntarily. THAT had been weird, though not really disturbing, as Vegeta had made it out to be. All he'd seen was the namekian's broad back, shoulders hunched and voice low, pinning Vegeta against the wall and yelling. Pic yelled at Vegeta all the time, often pulling the sayian up to eye-level so he could more properly insult him. He'd have to ask him why Veg'd reacted like that later.

"Hey, Lute," Gohan called out, swirling his pinky finger nonchalantly in his empty cup and continuing once he got the child's attention, "Could I get some more tea? And please tell him I really liked it."

"Sure." was Lute's only reply before turning around and saying a few things in namek-go. The halfling stared out the window haphazardly before quickly yelping, pulling his finger away from the warm liquid that now filled his cup, half-glaring over at the smiling elder, and murmuring something under his breath about 'funny' and the eye of the beholder.

"So, O- Piccolo-san, what exactly is happening now?" The young adult asked, catching his mistake quickly before a look could be shot his way.

But the reply came without the malice he'd half-expected after that, saying "He's to do his own task, something the elder and I have agreed on, since he is my child I have a right to look out for him."

Relived- "What is it?"

"Well, if that you wish to know-" Oboe stood up, stepping out the door right behind the elder and the emerald-eyed boy, "-then come and see."

Gohan nodded, setting his empty little teacup down gently on the table and filing out behind them.

---

The once-quiet village was suddenly a-bustle with activity as their elder stepped into the square, followed by three strangers (two of whom were well-known to even the youngest children). Though some of the older namekians stayed back to continue their work, every younger adult and child stood watching, some of the adolescents sporting the same look of dumb awe that Chui, Osu, and Hiku'd had at the sight of Piccolo (though they didn't jump 'him' this time, as the adults had a firm grasp on their shoulders). The adults themselves looked out at the warriors with a deep respect, having known well of how much power they truly had, and all the work it had taken to get to that level.

Lute's big eyes canvassed the crowd, dumbstruck in his own right- he'd never seen this many of his native people at once, and the sight of all those faces so much like his own staring back at him was both strange and comforting at the same time.

When they finally reached the middle, everyone stopped, and as the elder spoke aloud to his people, Oboe translated for Gohan-

"My brothers, the time has come across once again for the sacred relics, the dragonballs, to come into need again. And we are to be graced by the presence of two great warriors who need no introduction save as those who were the saviors of our lives and homeworld from the great tyrant Freezer. But the reason they are here, I am sad to say, if the death of one of their comrades, of who's name you should all know as well as your own- Son Goku. He has perished, once again, in defense of those who he holds dear, and those friends have come here to revive him.

"Needless to say, we of the elders have all agreed to give them the right to search out our most sacred relics. They have already gathered two, and to compete for the third may I introduce the son of the greatest namekian warrior who has ever lived, by the name of Lute"

Lute suddenly felt himself shoved from the point where he'd been hiding behind his mother's legs into the middle of everyone, and after recovering from the sudden light, thought for a second that his ears were ringing- they weren't, and as he opened his eyes, his jaw dropped- Every last person in the whole group, without a single exception, was applauding. Applauding. For him...

A broad grin spread across his small features, and he barely caught the end of the elder's statement-

"For this task, he will have to use speed, but much more than that- all the trials are unique to the person they are for, testing them in a personal way, trying their very spirits and souls, challenging them to use everything they've got to have their wishes come true. And as his father nods to 'Pic', who's in the usual cross-arms stance has told me, young Lute is like many of our own children- he's loud, impatient at times, and very certain in his own abilities. And so, with his father's help and permission, I have decided upon the task. The best of luck to you all."

NOTE- ok, if you haven't caught my note in "Shadows", I'm going to be a little slow in updating, because of the extra work I've got to put into Chemistry and Geometry this semester. But I WILL be updating when I get the chance, so I'll thank you in advance for your support and patience //. -  
For those waiting on chapter 3 of "shadows", I'm working on it, along with a couple other fic projects and some bigger fanarts pieces I'm trying to set up currently. I'm hoping to get 'Dreams' 62 out before Lute's second birthday, though, and it's coming up really soon, so I'll be busting my ass before Wednesday to get the big chapter on him out grinz well, it's late as I'm typing this, ciao soon. 


	62. NOTE- please read.

Hey everyone. Me here. Well, This may be my last message to you for a long time, the sittuation is too complicated to explain, but my school problems are getting worse, and my parents might be trying something drastic before the day is done. But let me tell you this-  
  
No matter what happens, though I may seem to disappear for a time, I will NOT let these stories die. I REFUSE. I've spent too much goddamn time (two years on "dreams", as of tomorrow- Today's Lutey's 2nd birthday //.^) on these to let them fade. I know what it's like to read a story that truely moves you in every sence- only to see it wilt and die as it lies unfinished. It's a horrible thing. I will never let my stories become another "Silent One". So just bear with me, guys. I'm going to try my very best to beat this depression, this forced isolation, and to cntinue righting, even if I can't publish it all for a long time.  
  
What I ask of you all is simple- your support. Now more than ever I need to see that you all still care, that I'm not wasting my time and life on this, that I have some puropse in this world. I don't care how, but I'd love for you guys to help me out in this dark hour.  
  
*nods to the group, walks off in silence, book and pen in hand* 


	63. Change

___Chapter 62___  
  
~~~NOTE- *emerges from the shadows, raises fists in the air* I HAVE RETURNED!!!!!!! *grins rictiously* Well, I'm allowed back on my compy, and now that this song has gotten ingrained in my mind and given me ideas, here we go! Thank you, everyone, for all your support, it's truly appreciated (You're saints, really. *smiles gently* it always makes me feel wonderful when I think of how my labors mean something to someone. Bless you all for your patience)! Musical inspiration- "Learning to fly" + "Into the great wide open", Tom Petty. ~~~  
  
  
......   
  
"I have to WHAT??"  
  
"Just catch it."  
  
Dumbfounded, the emerald-eyed boy blinked twice and scratched his head, getting a tad annoyed. Catch it? Oh comeon, they had to be kidding!! He wasn't just a little kid, he could do a REAL task, they didn't have to make it EASY for him.....  
  
But no matter how he pressed, they wouldn't explain better, wouldn't let him have a harder task, so with a sigh in his heart, he bowed his head and conceded defeat. "Alright, ok, let's just get this over with..."  
  
Oboe masked her annoyance at his attitude, and let it slide. She'd had a feeling he'd balk at first, since it sounded so simple. But words can be deceptive...  
  
Lute stared up, face set in a pout, as the elder produced the sphere in his hand, bringing a silence upon the crowd, all eyes upon that sacred orange orb glittering with the light of two red stars. The child's eyes followed it halfheartedly, as it was lifted up slightly, cocked back, and-  
  
Before he knew what was happening, the ball went soaring straight over his head and into the arms of another waiting namek child who grabbed it and blasted off like wildfire, leaving the emerald-eyed boy staring blankly in shock.  
  
"What the HELL??"  
  
"Feh. He said you had to catch it, but he didn't say from whom. Get moving, baka!" came his father's voice in a clearly amused tone. Lute just stared at the speaker for ten seconds before the meaning of the words sank in, and slapping himself for his hesitance, bolted right on after the fleeing shape, grin planted on his face.  
  
This was gonna be FUN!!!  
  
---  
  
"Oh comeon, please, can you just BLAST it already??"  
  
" *shocked* Bulma!! How can you even SAY that??? She's your friend in there!!"  
  
Bulma glared back at Son, irritation in her voice. "You and your damn morals... We've been STUCK here for an HOUR, damnit!! I don't care WHO you blast, just blast somebody so we can get out!"  
  
"But Bulma-"  
  
"BUT BULMA NOTHING!!! JUST LISTEN TO ME DAMNIT!! I, BULMA BRIEFS, BILLIONAIRE, am NOT SPENDING the REST of MY life STUCK behind a ROCK because YOU, Mr. Let's-not-fight-let's-all-be-friends doesn't have the guts to blow up a damn truck, or even pop it's tire or anything, because somebody might get a bruise or two? I'm tired, I've got cramps, it's too hot, my mascara is running, my nails are worn down to the bone, and I have to pee!!! I am NOT standing here any longer!!!!"  
  
And with that, the turquoise-haired woman promptly knocked Son Goku on his ass, stood up, and charged out, all eyes staring out at her like she was crazy (which, um... is correct Oo).  
  
They kept staring as every bullet proceeded to miss her, veering off as soon as she glared at them, causing a line of discarded shells to collapse in her wake. A little trail of them lie useless on the ground behind her, forming a little trail to the kitchen, wherein she slammed the door behind her.  
  
Silence.  
  
Son's jaw had dropped, his one eye visibly twice the size of the other, and he whistled admiringly, muttering "I guessed she picked up the ability to use stubbornness as a shield in all her time with Vegeta...."  
  
The other girls nodded, slack-jawed, and as soon as that shock nearly wore off, a BANG(!) sounded, jolting them all back into reality and pulling their attention to the truck, toppled over on it's side not 50 feet away, the back end still smoking.  
  
Bulma strolled over calmly, sat down the still-warm bazooka, hefted an unconscious (yet basically unharmed) Lunch-type Ranchi out of the cab, sat her down, and said as cheerfully as possible out at the crowd "So, who's up to go bug my dad for another truck?"  
  
---  
  
Eyes up, watching the chi trails blast off in the distance, watching Lute try to keep up with the smaller shape, watching them fly off further- It began to bore Vegeta after a time. Yeah, the littler one seemed faster, but Lute would eventually beat him out in stamina. That's how Oboe had explained this task to him. The elder had known Lute would win in the end as well, but he hadn't had any doubt of the child's purity in desire from the beginning, so the task was merely to test the child's patience. Gohan had grinned at hearing it, adding in the fact that it'd be funny to see Lute's little green eyes light up afterwards- he'd be so proud of himself...  
  
But Vegeta was bored anyways. Any time spent just sitting was a nuisance to him and his mindset, the reason why he trained so much. The life of a fighter was short, could be shut out at any moment, so why waste your time dawdling? So, closing his eyes, he sighed, and started up another imaginary conversation-  
  
{{Eh, namek, this is maddening. We've wasted so much time searching around for these things, they should just give them to us once we get here, but no... We've got to spend ANOTHERE asinine amount of time waiting around... At least that woman of yours isn't staring at me again, with those eyes... She really scared me, you know, I don't scare easy. Gonna have to talk to you about that once you come back...  
  
*sighs* I hope you do soon... I can't believe I really miss you this much. You're my friend and all, and it's just so quiet around without you making your snide remarks, or laughing at me when I do something stupid, or yelling insults to counter the ones I toss at you when we'll spar... You'd better get your ass ready to come back quick, because I'm gonna speed this all up as soon as possible.}}  
  
A grin passed his silent lips, and he leaned back against the wall of the house, able to feel the regenerating hairs brush against it. What a good feeling, not being so bald anymore... But for some odd reason, he felt a strange impulse to look up, and doing so, found himself face-to-face with that namekian from before, the one who's told Oboe how to find the elder.  
  
Blinking twice, the sayian cocked his head to the side, too comfortable in his seat to bother knocking the intruder away, and instead asked rather matter-of-factly, allowing himself to be rude because he knew he wouldn't be understood "And what the hell are you doing here? Get your green ass out of my face, please, you people make me gag."  
  
The namekian man stared at him for a second, chuckling in his soft way before responding flawlessly "Sorry if we do, oh great Prince Vegeta. Is there anything I can do to repair this misgiving?", accenting the sarcasm in his voice with a mock bow at the end.  
  
Vegeta was so shocked at first that he couldn't speak, but sensing the challenge, spat back his own reply "Oh well then, if you're so willing to serve, go get me a steak. I'm hungry."  
  
That laughter came again, the one that sounded like music, and the namekian sat down to his side, glancing back over at him as Vegeta's eyes followed the action above. Anyone who could shoot back his comments so fast wasn't that bad, even if they were green. Anyway, he got the feeling that shooing the namek away would be more trouble than it was worth. So he tolerated the presence.  
  
A few minutes later, the voice came back, stating nonchalantly "I'm Hayai. Interesting to actually see you, after I've heard so much about how terrifying you are. Seems the stories are old."  
  
Confused as to why the namekian now known as Hayai had spoken back up, Vegeta rolled one eye over in his direction, not responding to the statement. Hayai didn't bother to look at him, though, just stared quietly out at the sky and spoke again as if to noone in particular- "It's strange how people change, is it not? For the longest time they can be one way, but the next instant, something happens, and they're different. It's fascinating. Wouldn't you say so?"  
  
No reply.  
  
"Well, I think it is. Change happens to us all, but not one of us can ever fully understand it. It's like the forces of nature- it strikes us like lightning only to disappear again until later, when we least expect it. It's hard for a person to change themselves personally, though. My father told me that. And I believe him. He had to change himself once, it was either that or drown in the past."  
  
"I bet you're pretty bored with me right now, that you're only half listening. But I'm not getting to the point yet. *shifts into a straighter sitting position, looks Vegeta in the eyes, waiting for a response.* "  
  
The silence stretched on for about twenty seconds, Vegeta's half-lidded left eye waiting to see if the namek would relent, but after satisfying his suspicion that that wasn't happening, he sighed and turned full around, asking "And what would that be?"  
  
"I've been watching you four. And I know who you are."  
  
Vegeta's uncaring glance froze in cold fear, mouth drying out. Oh no...  
  
"And I just wanted to say- good luck. Take care of my tatacha, please. Father always told me about her before he had to leave, and it's nice to see she's everything he said. *smiles* Seems change doesn't necessarily effect everyone."  
  
And with that, Hayai stood up and walked off without another word, leaving a dumbfounded sayian merely to stare at him as his thin form drifted off into the distance.  
  
  
  
~~~NOTE- Sorry this chapter is so short, I wanted to get something out to you guys ASAP. I'll spend a bit more time on the next one. Ciao until then! //.^ ~~~ 


	64. Point of View (AKA- How we all see the w...

___Chapter 63___  
  
~~ NOTE- if anyone's been wondering what "Oo" or "oO" are, they're not words- they're just little freaked-out faces (the O's being the eyes, one bigger than the other). Musical inspiration- "Magic's in the makeup", "Artificial sweetener", "New", No Doubt. ~~  
  
  
Once again, the world zipped by below in a swirl of colors, like a five-year-old had been set free in a bare white room with all the paint they could ever use, and told that there would be no punishment later. Dabs, swirls, slashes, blurs- it was dizzying, the way everything blended together, enough to almost drive you crazy- it you were paying attention to it, that is. If he'd been doing anything else, he would- Lute was always fascinated by the tiniest things- but this was something not to be put aside.  
  
He'd lost track of the other again.  
  
For a moment he stopped dead still, keeping his ears perked, trying to search out the smaller chi...... THERE!!!  
  
Blasting straight at a tree, he flushed it out like a startled bird and thrust his hand forward, snatching a part of cloth, causing it's wearer to yell out in surprise. Grinning, the emerald-eyes boy pulled his captive out of the blue foliage, and-  
  
"Holy SHIT! Is that you???"  
  
Dropping hold of the scarlet-colored pant leg, Lute's face brightened as Chan grinned at him, nodding.  
  
"Who else did you think it was?"  
  
---  
  
Hmph.....  
  
What exactly MADE a world, anyway? Just a planet? Feh, if so, this sure wasn't much of one. It was tiny, barely worth the room it took up. Of course....  
  
Anything made it worthwhile now, for the victory it had afforded him. Finally, he could breathe in peace- the old bastard was never going to speak to him again, ever. If he could speak at all by now, that was...  
  
Malicious, and a grin of that style lit the lips of the namekisan-jin man, staring out around himself at the light magenta sky interrupted by not a single cloud.  
  
Feh.  
  
Who cared about terrain? Who cared about anything? Certainly not he. Not at all. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even remember why he'd cared about anything... at all......  
  
And in the back of his mind, unbeknownst to him (for if he'd known what was happening, he'd have fought it) something he'd been holding onto viciously ever since he first opened his eyes on this plane began to slip away-  
  
---  
  
This world....  
  
As Lute blasted off into the distance in pursuit, fading even beyond her sight, Oboe allowed herself to fade into a meditative state, pulling into the recesses of her mind (where her thoughts would not affect her body's reactions). And that is the first thought that struck her.  
  
What WAS this place?  
  
It was not Nameksei, her homeworld- that had died long before Freezer ever was, nor was it the shell that had remained after the great storms. That world was dead. This was a new place- yet....  
  
Why did it SEEM just the same? She didn't need to think far to come up with all the similarities, they were too blaring (sometimes frightening) to leave her mind for long. And it wasn't coincidence- it couldn't be- but...  
  
{{Ah, damnit all.... If only I had some clue!}} she cried to herself, wishing she could just sit down, clench her hands over her ears and hum to herself until her lover would come take her away from all this madness- but obviously, she could not.  
  
There was work to be done. That could not be done if she idled, or cried, or got lost in the past or the future. All there was, was now.  
  
But, as she thought with a smile- there were always the pleasant surprises. When the man she'd asked for directions had tuned around and said that.... The words came back to her mind as she thought of it-  
  
"Oh, and if you can hear me in there, anoco- I'm proud of you, we all are."  
  
....  
  
So, even at his relatively young age (for a namekisan-jin, at least), it seems her Swift-chan had a child....  
  
As a voice calling to her from the outside world forced her to retreat from her inner world, she felt no regrets at leaving it- a sense of peace settled over her again as she opened her borrowed eyes.  
  
---  
  
What a weird world.  
  
Spitting discreetly onto the ground, the prince of all sayia-jin drummed his fingers together, bored once again. That namek stopping in had made things interesting for a time, and trying to figure out what the hell 'tatacha' meant had puzzled him for a time longer, but he bored of it quickly, and instead occupied himself with whatever came to mind- from seeing how long he could hold his breath or stare, to counting the mud stained that remained on his armor even after all that scrubbing in the stream.  
  
{{Euh, damn that namek woman sometimes.}} he murmured mentally, before remembering why he'd been left in the dirt and silencing himself. He'd deserved it.  
  
Coming to think of it- he'd deserved alot of what'd happened to him on this trip. The only thing he hadn't deserved was the trip itself...   
  
{{Damn them all, sometimes... especially you, Pic, it's all you're fault we're out here, you had to go die on us.... *sighs again* This sucks.}}  
  
---  
  
"Small world, eh?"  
  
"Yeah! I didn't expect to see YOU here!"  
  
The other young namek child grinned again, nodding in agreement. "So, where've you been?"  
  
Lute dropped to the ground to sit, leaning his chin on a hand as he replied "Finding dragonballs. This is our second." with his typical toothy smirk.  
  
After a few seconds with no reply, though, he cocked his head to the side, glancing at Chan to make sure everything was alright. But all his eyes met was silence.  
  
However, it was broken again, with a question- "Um... why ARE you looking for them, anyway?"  
  
He didn't know how to answer to that one.  
  
"I mean, you'd told us at first they were for your dad, but elder says it was for Son Goku-san, and then I saw your dad standing there with you..."  
  
Silence.  
  
"...Long story."  
  
A perked interest met his eyes, but Lute merely finished with "One I really don't want to tell."  
  
A sigh.  
  
Chan's face fell a little, but he let it slide, instead standing up, handing Lute what he'd earned, and gesturing towards the village, indicating it was time to go.  
  
A nod, and the two of then jumped into the air.  
  
---  
  
This place sure was different than he was used to.  
  
In the down-time, most everyone was waiting around for the return of the children, Gohan included. But he wasn't as idle as Oboe or Vegeta- an hour after things had died down, he'd felt a tug on his pant leg, and turned around to see a big pair of childish eyes belonging to a little namek, barely out of his hatchling age, beaming up at him.  
  
The halfling blinked twice, confused as what to do, before another voice rose out behind him and said (in a deep namekian accent, but still understandable) "He wanted to see you."  
  
Gohan's eyes pulled up, and settled upon the face of an older adolescent namekisan-jin, that special sheen in his eyes telling he was a warrior-type.  
  
A smile spread on Gohan's part, and he folded an arm nonchalantly behind his head, scratching it slightly out of impulse. But soon enough, he'd gathered his wits, and smiled back at the small one, who's little eyes lit up as he laughed, before running back behind the other namekian, calling out something frantically in namek-go.  
  
That only brought another chorus of laughter through the taller form, and puzzled, Gohan waited until the child had been shooed away before inquiring "What was that all about?"  
  
"You certainly know you're all a form of hero on Nameksei, do you not? The children grow up here hearing of your exploits like you're mythological gods or something- some even DO consider you gods, including one of my brothers and his friends. *laughs* Chui's always been a nut, though- you're truly great people, but I wouldn't call you gods. No offence, of course."  
  
"Non taken. And did you say 'Chui'? Is he, by chance, a tallish boy around your age, with a midnight-bluish cape and white gi?"  
  
"Yes, the same. Have you seen him?"  
  
"*nods* In the village of the elder Takusan, where we found our first dragonball. He was, well, a tad enthusiastic at seeing my... sensei. *sweatdrops* "  
  
The other man laughed out loud, having to stifle it with his hand before he got too loud. "Holy.. what did he do, jump him?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, he did."  
  
"*grinz again* "  
  
"*smiles* It's a weird feeling, though- I don't feel special at all, but everywhere I go, someone's staring at me..."  
  
"Heh. Well, there's nothing I can do to help you on that, but you've got my best wishes. Have to go now, need to watch my little brother- HEY, GET BACK HERE!!!!"  
  
As Gohan watched him run off, a soft smile lit his face- the namekians were such great people- but his head swerved around at a shout that went through the crowd-  
  
Lute hovered above them all, face set in a toothy grin as he raised his prize, arushinchu held tightly in his little grasp. 


	65. Help

___Chapter 64___  
  
~~~NOTE- AAH! when Lute was talking to Chan last chapter, I accidentally put that it was their second dragonball- it's their THIRD. Sorry 'bout that //.- Musical inspiration, "Tonight, tonight", Smashing Pumpkins. ~~~  
  
Darkness.  
  
A scream ripped across the silent night, like a dying soul's last cry given wings that had collapsed too soon, dropping it back into it's hell......  
  
---  
  
Laughter bubbled out of the child's throat as a familiar pair of arms scooped him up and held him close, causing Lute's little eyes to squeeze shut for a moment before snapping open again, to see the silent smile that should have belonged to his father, not a mask- but that thought brought him no sadness as it would have before, but only a greater joy- he'd helped, he'd helped!!! He was helping to bring his anoco back- not just the others- him too!! Heh, to hell with anyone who'd thought he was useless, they were wrong!!  
  
His whole world spinning around giddily in his mind, everything came and went in a swirl, too much to be digested at the moment- only later would he be able to calm down and remember it all...  
  
---  
  
Barely had he known what was going on before a downpour of cheers swarmed his mind, blowing Gohan away as much as it did everyone else. The halfling had to pull back and plop himself down on the top of one of the house-structures before he could tell what was happening- he'd only gotten a glimpse of Lute before it all started.  
  
Now he just sat there, smiling outward, amazed at what was happening. They were almost halfway there, only a bit longer then his sensei could come back.....  
  
---  
  
Standing back as well, Vegeta cocked an eyebrow. Damn, these nameks were weird. They'd been so quiet for so long now, but the kid appears and boom- it's like there'd been a mass hot-foot assault and they'd all jumped up and become alive again. But his eyes weren't on them- it was on the two standing in the center of it all.  
  
Veg sighed and rolled his eyes- all this time, she'd been playing perfectly, until now- good that noone had really seen Piccolo before, or they'd know this current behavior was unnatural- Oboe had run up, hugged her son, and swung him around in the air, laughing...  
  
The sound sent shivers down the sayian's spine, and the wide-eyed dead face of his friend flashed behind his eyes again. To hear a dead man's laughter...  
  
---  
  
Darkness.  
  
The soul stared out around itself disjointedly, a tinge of fear stinging it's eyes as it searched for an escape.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Trapped.  
  
"NO!!" it cried out to the silence, hoping someone would hear it's voice and respond, would pull it from this pit- but there was solitude.  
  
DAMNITDAMNITDAMNIT! Oh WHY, WHY had this happened, WHY had it been allowed, if only he'd known when he'd started, if only he'd listen, if only he'd-  
  
---  
  
Lying back, eyes closed in bliss, ever-present yet invisible sun warming his skin, the knowledge of justices done seeping through him...  
  
How could it get more perfect?  
  
An eye snapped open slightly at the word 'justices' in his thoughts... was that the one that fit this? Or was it just 'revenge'?  
  
The smaller word hit his ears better, and it came out from his throat in a soft whisper which turned his slightly curved lips into a slick grin. Revenge...  
  
And something began to slip again.  
  
---  
  
Words flew like wildfire, but his ears only picked out the sounds he could understand, split in bits and pieces by the other conversations-  
  
"- Proud of you, I'm s- of you- all by yourself-"  
  
"*laughter* Hey, I'm a big kid, I can- handle this! -as easy!"  
  
"I dunno... -got lost.."  
  
"HUH? -'re crazy, baka!"  
  
"No- not."  
  
"Yes you - !"  
  
"No, you're- crazy one."  
  
Having had just about enough of this, Vegeta rolled his eyes and had moved forward to get then, something... happened. It was gone in merely a second, but it hadn't been imagined, he'd... 'heard' something, if that..... thing, could ever be called a voice. So hollow...  
  
Shaking it free of his mind, telling himself this was all for Piccolo, and that weird sounds were nothing, he promptly forgot it and dragged Gohan down by his foot (earning himself a 'What the HELL were you trying to do, scare me to death??' shout) to the ground before walking over to Oboe + Lute.  
  
---  
  
He couldn't help it- however many times he tried to distract himself, his eyes kept sliding back down to those claws, making him shiver in horror of what he'd almost done.  
  
Suicide... how could he even have THOUGHT of such a thing? There were few more horrible eternities to live, if any, than as a soul that had split it's own ties with life. He knew- he'd seen one once...  
  
Kami physically shuddered once more, but stopped himself as soon as it began to come on- the little one was here, no need to scare him.  
  
They'd both had enough scares for the day.  
  
---  
  
"Hey, another drink, please?"  
  
"Ok, ok, I'm coming!"  
  
Videl waited patiently, tapping her fingers on the table as Puar tried to hurry. The little cat-girl really was trying her best to be helpful, but besides this, there wasn't much she could do. {{A pity, though... she's such a sweetie}} The ebony-haired woman chuckled under her breath, a smile lighting her lips as she watched the blue tail bob back and forth behind the counter, looking for the margarita mix.  
  
"Found it yet?"  
  
"Uh... no, but trust me, I'll find it, Videl-san! Now WHERE did I put it, oh, I know it's here somewhere...."  
  
Her tail started twitching in agitation, and Videl had to bite her lip to stop from giggling out loud. Puar had to be just abut the cutest little person she'd ever met, always trying so hard to help but always just ending up flustered for it.   
  
Glancing to her left, the silent patter of rain caught her ears, and she stared out at it for a moment. The drizzle fell gently, causing the ground to sparkle, covering up the dust cloud that'd been hovering there for the last week or so, or maybe longer- it seemed like they'd been working at this forever. With a sigh, Videl leant back in her chair, absentmindedly running her finger along the rim of the glass, but she stopped once she noticed she was doing the same thing Gohan always did...  
  
Her eyes closed, and she let the sound of the rain try to wash her mind of that thought, to no avail. Her mind was now firmly focused on her Gohan-chan. She really did miss him.. Oh, WHY did he have to go off? Damn, it's not like the other two couldn't have done it on their own, they were perfectly capable of that. Another sigh, and she narrowed her eyes, murmuring "I don't even like that man, and now he's taking my husband away again.... {{Bakayaro.}} "  
  
"Hmn?"  
  
Videl pulled her head up at the sound, and found herself staring straight at Bulma's big blue eyes.  
  
"Were you just talking to yourself, Videl? *laughs* I know this job is driving us all crazy, but I didn't think any of us were that far gone already."  
  
"Nah, it's nothing, just thinking out loud."  
  
"That's what 'talking to yourself' is called."  
  
"No, it's not. Just- Euh, leave me alone."  
  
Bulma, a bit hurt by the tone of that last remark, cocker her head to the side to remark on it, but stopped and coughed instead as her hair fell in her face, and she sat up straight instead on leaning her head backward on her chair-back. Once she could breathe again, the flipped the blue locks (she'd been letting it go long again- it flowed a bit past her shoulders) behinds her and asked "You ok? You look like something's bugging you."  
  
Silence.  
  
"Hey, Videl! I asked you a question, please answer me. Something's wrong, isn't it?"  
  
"It's nothing."  
  
"VIDEL."  
  
"Who asked you anyway?" The reply came as a snap, causing the older woman's eyes to pull open a bit wider in surprise. Now she was SURE something was wrong, Videl didn't usually get into a mood like this unless there was.  
  
Gently, as not to irritate her further, she stated "Your drink's here."  
  
Videl jerked her head around, stared at Puar's happy little face for a few seconds, grabbed the glass, and downed it. Puar, not used to such rude treatment, ran off crying.  
  
---  
  
Darkness.  
  
He didn't know how long he'd been there- Hours? Days? Years?- It didn't matter anyway. Curled up on the ground, head bowed in defeat, he could only lean it in his hands and lament what he'd done. If only he'd listened...  
  
Staring out around him, he felt as if the walls were closing in on him, and shook his head violently, trying to clear his vision. Soon enough, they stopped. Or had they moved at all? Where there even WALLS to move?  
  
Another cry pierced his lips, shattering out piteously into the darkness that seemed to envelop and swallow everything within it-  
  
"Oh god, someone help me...."  
  
---  
  
Vegeta jerked up in a sweat, breathing heavily. Pulling out of sleep the rest of the way, he stood up, wiping his brow with a blanket as he looked around the capsule room. Nothing- everyone else was still asleep.  
  
With a low hiss, he plopped down in a chair, eyes swirled with confusion. He'd been sleeping peacefully when he'd heard it again- that.... sound. The one that he'd heard earlier, the one that came from everywhere and nowhere at once, that he knew he recognized but couldn't quite place....  
  
He didn't get any sleep after that, and just sat up until the others rose.  
  
  
~~~NOTE- sorry for disappearing again, been busy with studying for my exams //. 


	66. Apathy sucks

___Chapter 65____ Apathy sucks  
  
~~~NOTE- My compy was being re-done there, couldn't access it for quite some time. That's why I was gone so long. sorry 'bout that...  
-  
Uh... Oo Language flag on this chapter- there's an argument here, and it gets a bit... colorful //.^() Musical inspiration- "Dark blue" and "Too late", No Doubt ~~~  
  
"WHAT the HELL did you think you were doing, damnit!!? I can't believe you could act like such an asshole! And to HER, of ALL people!"  
  
It had been five hours since the rain ended, and now nightfall had come again. Videl hadn't done much but drink, and had refused to speak to Bulma, who had been too busy trying to reassure Puar to deal with anyone else. But now was different.  
  
"I SAID to ANSWER me, DAMNIT!"  
  
At this point, Bulma had tried asking nicely again, but Videl wouldn't speak, and only opened her mouth once- to spit in her face. That, coupled with the image burnt into her mind of Puar's little face streaked with tears and a line of blood from her broken nose, was too much. Now, Videl found herself pinned against the back wall of the kitchen, those blue eyes staring her down.  
  
"So, are you going to tell me why you were such a bitch to her?"  
  
And Videl would only stare right back at her.  
  
Bulma  
  
was  
  
Pissed.  
  
"Why should I?"  
  
---  
  
He watched absentmindedly as Gohan put away the capsule house again and took to where the others were. When they called out to him, Vegeta yawned loudly, making quite a show of stretching before rising into the air.  
  
Cocking an eyeridge, Oboe (and she was, for the moment- she hadn't transformed yet) asked "And why, pray tell, are you so tired?"  
  
"Because."  
  
"'caus why?" piped in Lute, who still had a faint ear-to-ear grin on his face.  
  
Smirking sarcastically, he replied, not feeling easy enough with what was going on to tell the truth- "You were snoring."  
  
"WHAT??"  
  
One look at that face was too much, and the sayia-jin no oujisan (prince) fell over on his ass laughing. That had made him feel a lot better- damn, he was starting to really like that kid. So with a smile, he brushed his hand through his inch-and-a-half of hair and took off with them.  
  
---  
  
Stars swam across her vision, throbbing along with her head, the black-and-white explosion filling her sight for at least five seconds before blurring out. It took her mind a few seconds to realize what had happened- Bulma had slapped her, hard.  
  
Once she could see a bit straighter (as straight as it was gonna get, that is, after she'd drank so much), she glared darkly at her. Then, for the first time in a long time, she opened her mouth, only whispering eight small words-   
  
"Do you really think you want to know?"  
  
At that, Bulma almost hesitated before replying "Yeah."  
  
A few seconds later, she'd wished she had.  
  
"You really want to know, do you? In actuality, it's got nothing to do with the girl. I was angry, and she was there. That's all she's got to do with it. But you wanna know why I was angry, right?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Am I RIGHT?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it already, Videl."  
  
"Everything we're forced to do now- everything we've been suffering for weeks, so much of this shit, is all due to the same damned thing, the same damned person, it's all one person's fault!!"  
  
The blue-haired woman's eyes blinked twice in confusion- Videl was seeming to ramble, her voice rushed despite the slurring. There really WAS something eating at her... still perplexed, she asked again "Are you alright?", not quite conscious of the fact that she was treading through eggshells.  
  
Or that she'd just trampled on them.  
  
"Am I alright?" Videl asked back, but before there could be a reply, she shouted again "Am I ALRIGHT? NO, I am NOT ALRIGHT!!"  
  
Stunned by the way she had jumped back to her feet, her voice roaring out, Bulma could only watch with wide eyes as was spilled out before her something that had been long coming-  
  
"It's all HIS f~~~~ing fault!!!! I swear, ever since I met him, I've HATED him!! All he's ever done is screw things up, be a f~~~~ing jackass, and steal my Gohan!!! Every time he sees me, I can feel the resentment coming off him, and he f~~~~ing stares me down with those f~~~~ing eyes of his! He hates me as much as I hate him, always has!! No WONDER he has no f~~~~ing friends! Nobody wants to be NEAR that monster! I've got no clue how she can stay with him, she's such a sweet thing, and then you've got HIM! All he really cares about is fighting, not any of us!! And he's trying to steal my Gohan away, trying to make him like HIM!! That's why he hates me, he wants my Gohan, he wants to take him from me, but I won't f~~~~ing let him! I won't let him!!!! If I could, I'd have KILLED him by now!! F~~~~ing BASTARD! Even when he's DEAD, he STILL steals my Gohan-chan!!! I swear, I wish he would just do us all a f~~~~ing favor and STAY dead!!!"  
  
Bulma stared in silence as Videl ranted on, cursing left and right, her voice mixed between a scream and a drunken slur. She was loosing it..... But this wasn't all some drunken ramble, and though his name was not once spoken, every word screamed it.  
  
Videl kept ranting. Bulma said nothing.  
  
Ten minutes later, the girl with the ebony hair was still standing there, her audience long gone, though she barely seemed to notice.  
  
---  
  
"Ok, ok, where's this next stupid village again?"  
  
"Not that far, actually. Only a couple of miles."  
  
"MILES????? WHAT???"  
  
"Um... Vegeta.... don't do that please."  
  
"WHY??"  
  
"Because you're not looking where you're going when you close your eyes and scream like that, you might just-"  
  
*WUMP*  
  
"........ hit a tree........"  
  
---  
  
From his current viewpoint, everything seemed rather upsi-down to the sayianjin prince. Why, was a simple answer. He only wished that he'd hit it harder, then maybe he'd be temporarily deaf and not have to hear the mocking laughter that had exploded above. Furrowing his brow, he swallowed his pride and flopped over to get upwards again.......  
  
And was greeted with a 'splat'. He hadn't noticed the mud puddle.  
  
As if that wasn't enough, the laughter redoubled overhead, nearly bringing the three out of the sky. Vegeta, dripping wet with the stuff, could only glare at them for the longest time, hoping to intimidate them into silence. No such luck. In agitation, he slammed his fists down- to be greeted with yet another 'splash'.  
  
Intrigued, he tried it again. He was right- there was alot more mud left. A grin passed his features as he scooped some up in his glove and narrowed his eyes, making sure he got the alignment just right.....  
  
*SPLAT*  
  
Oboe's face instantly contorted with horrified shock as she jerked her head down, staring at the dark blotch on her leg. Narrowing her borrowed eyes (as she had changed again), she was about to shout something, but Vegeta's aim proved very true- and she got a fistful of the stuff straight into her open mouth instead.  
  
Grinning at the splattered figure above, Vegeta raised his arms in victory, crying out "HA!!! Take THAT!!" as he swung a massive blotch propelled by his chi- it hit dead-on target, drenching it. He sat back for a moment, relishing his victory. Feh, that onna wasn't gonna show HIM up!!!  
  
That is, before another ball of mud smacked him right in the back of the head. Swerving around, he was greeted by a glob of the stuff straight in his face, and Piccolo's sarcastic laughter- "HA yourself!! You wanna fight, let's fight!!!"  
  
"Heh....... bring it on!"  
  
---  
  
Elsewhere, another head was shaking, clicking it's tongue in that "tsk, tsk" scolding manner that everyone hates to hear, and the voice called out to the only other there in a sing-song, jeering manner-  
  
"I tried to tell you, don't play with fire."  
  
"SHUTUP."  
  
"Why? I think I deserve this, after what you did to me earlier. I try to help you, and you-"  
  
"SHUTUP! Stop gloating, ok? I thought you were suppose to be compassionate."  
  
"I thought you were suppose to be strong."  
  
That one hurt.  
  
The soul buried his head further in his hands, wishing that he was again alone in the Darkness. That was nowhere near as painful as what he now endured- there had been noone to speak to, but there had been noone to mock him.  
  
Feeling forced to defend himself, he pulled his face from his palms and shouted back spontaneously "Well, at least I don't kick people when they're -" He stopped, the words freezing on his lips.  
  
But Neru finished his sentence.  
  
"As a matter of fact, I think you did. I rather remember you kicking me when I was down. If Kami hadn't waken you up, you would have murdered me. So you passed your rage onto him, nearly killed the poor man from grief, and to make sure you wouldn't feel bad about doing it, you let the other side of your mind have a bigger hold. But it wasn't happy with just a little, was it? It took over your body, and now here you sit, helpless and hopeless, a prisoner within your own mind, and everything you had going for you- a family, friends, everything- is lost to you because you let hatred take over for some old grudge. You truly are pathetic, Piccolo." 


	67. In the garden

___Dream 66___  
  
~~~NOTE- ok, this is gonna be a long one. *picks up the flower she'd been holding, lies it on the grave of PN* A moment of silence, please.  
  
As some of you may or may not know, Planetnamek.com was one of the most amazing sites ever built, and one of the places that was crucial in the sparking of many a fandom, including my own. But now it has left us, for good. I'd heard this rumor long ago, but not until yesterday did I have the courage to actually check up on it. It's true. Before I get started typing this next chapter, I'm going to leave a message out. Anyone who doesn't care can just check the end of the note for the musical inspiration and read c66. For the rest of you-  
  
Planetnamek.com was one of the most magnificent sites I ever laid eyes on three years or so ago when I was just a beginning fan- It was that site where I first heard of 'fanfiction'.... and it is that site to which I owe everything in my own writing. If it wasn't for that, a much younger me would have never gotten the idea into her little blond head to write a story named "dreams", or any of the others she's done since. It's there that she read her first-ever fanfic, where she learned the words 'manga' and 'subtitled' and 'uncut' and 'fanart' and everything else that she knows today about the world of anime. It's that site that lead her to others, which lead her to others, which lead her to Cremrock's shrine, where she first posted a modest 23 chapters of the story that you are now reading. (Once this fic is finished, and it will be one day, I'll pay my due to Crem, so I won't go on how much he helped me here) It was at Cremrock's where she found the links to the two stories that have influenced her more than any others before or since- "silent one" and "mamono sakuhachi". It was Planetnamek where she found a message board called "Gundam", four pages long at the time, and made a myriad of friends whom she shall never, ever forget (I'll also pay my dues to them, in time). It was there that she would go to find out anything she needed to know about the DB universe, there that everything began.  
  
I shall never, ever forget that place.  
  
*sighs quietly* and one last note- Kain, Skullmac, if you ever chance across this..... I think I've finally forgiven you for selling GL all those months ago. We all knew it wouldn't last.... I just want to thank you, Mr.E, Kaio, and everyone else on the staff for all that you have done for us. Nothing beautiful lasts forever. But it was a blast while it lasted //.^ *walks away from the site's plain-screened grave*  
  
Musical inspiration- "Wishing Well", "Sculpture Garden", by Semisonic ~~~  
  
  
Everyone was silent the next morning, going about their work as usual. Something in a blue pair of eyes told them to ask no questions.  
  
Noone questioned why she'd come barging in to the temporary sleeping quarters they'd set up on the lookout so late, or why she hadn't slept at all, or why Yen had found Videl collapsed in a drunken stupor outside the next day. They'd merely laid the black-haired girl to rest in one of the beds, left Chi-chi to tend her daughter-in-law, and gone about their business.  
  
They all had a feeling they didn't want to know the answers.  
  
---  
  
Left  
  
Right  
  
Left  
  
Right  
  
Damn.  
  
That's all that could register in Lute's young mind as he watched the two adults acting like they were his age. His mother (anoco right now) and Vegeta-san had been at it for almost an hour now, laughing slightly and grinning like idiots as they pounded each other with mud.  
  
It was actually pretty funny. They seemed to be taking it so seriously, but they weren't. Anoco had told him before how he'd spar with the little sayian, and he always smiled a bit fondly while recounting the times- he'd never quite said it, but it was obvious they were friends.  
  
It also seemed Vegeta had forgotten who he was 'fighting'.  
  
---  
  
Gohan watched the same scene with less introspective and far more amusement. Oboe had ducked behind a tree which the original color of was indistinguishable now, only poking her head out to hurl insults. Vegeta had posted himself in the middle of the puddle for easy-access to the weaponry. Both were thoroughly soaked and caked from head to foot, and Vegeta's short new hair was flattened in a thousand different directions, a rictious grin plastered on his face.  
  
"Comeon you damned namek! Show your cowardly face!"  
  
"Why should I?"  
  
"....I.... said so!"  
  
Laughter coursed out from two places, and Vegeta swirled around and slammed Gohan right in the face with a nice nasty glob of the stuff, sending the halfling flying flat on his ass two feet away, and his glasses in another direction. Then it was his turn to laugh.  
  
Not for long, as he soon found himself face-down in the mud, a green hand pressed into the back of his head.  
  
"You loose."  
  
"..... you suck, namek" he managed to spit out as he pulled himself back up, spitting out a few other things as well.  
  
All he saw was Piccolo crossing his arms and replying cockily "Well I won, didn't I?"  
  
".... *fumes* "  
  
"WHERE ARE MY GLASSES?????"  
  
Lute trotted over to the halfling, holding something out to him. "Here, Gohan-san"  
  
"Oh.... thanks Lute."  
  
"*stifles a laugh* "  
  
Gohan glances over half-blindly to the child as he put the glasses to his face, asking "Why did you- AH! There's mud all over these!"  
  
Lute couldn't help it, he slipped and fell down, laughing as he plopped to the ground "They 'fell'!"  
  
"No they didn't, you did this on purpose didn't you, you little imp?"  
  
"......maybe!" he grinned out in that extended high tone that gave away the understatement.  
  
"I am so gonna get you kid........ huh? Guys? Why are you all looking at me like that... hey, don't..."  
  
"ATTACK!!!"  
  
---  
  
Gohan wiped at his now-brown gi an slight annoyance. He'd never be able to get it clean again... {{Of course, }} he thought with a gleam in his eye and a glance to the others, {{I'm in better shape than they are, anyway.}} Lute looked almost as bad as Vegeta and his mother... no, father, but no, she was.... ah, damn it all, the other namek that looked like his sensei. It was too confusing to try to name them right now.  
  
Back to Lute- when they'd attacked him, the kid had dove straight into the fray, laughing the whole time, and though he never got a single shot in, he kept laughing with the same joyous intensity, the same brightness in his emerald eyes. The little guy was really starting to grow on him...  
  
His head pulled up when their other namekian sighed aloud, murmuring "This is helpless... we're gonna have to wash it off. It's just to caked on to clean off the clothes without burning it off, and that might torch the fabric as well, which I don't think anyone wants."  
  
A slight chuckle from Vegeta was all she got, so she stood up, looked at them until she got their attention, and continued "So I suggest we go find somewhere to wash off. You three go off that way to look for somewhere. I'll find one on my own, and we'll meet back at the next village. Anyone gets lost, raise your chi- we'll find you.  
  
"So I have to watch the two kids?"  
  
".... *gives him a look* "  
  
At that, Vegeta realized what he was saying, and slapped himself. {{STUPID! What did you think, the woman was gonna bring the halfling along with her?}} Trying to redeem himself, he snapped "What about him? He's your kid."  
  
"He needs to spend some time with others. All his life he's been kept to practically himself, I want him to get to know someone else." And without a further word, she turned on her heel and disappeared into the forest.  
  
Vegeta sighed a bit, knowing he was defeated yet again, and trudged off in another direction, locking in on the smell of flowing water.  
  
---  
  
Oboe strolled in silence through the blue foliage all around her, smiling softly as the shadows flitted overhead. Thick forests were rare on Nameksei, and she knew this one well- Swiftu had often brought her or Arcos here to practice stealth, something they both lacked.  
  
Her favorite image of her much older brother came to mind, that proud sort of look he'd get on his face when she did something new with her chi, the one where he'd hook a thumb in his belt and smile a bit cockeyed, one fang glinting a bit in the sunlight that sparkled in his soft eyes as well.  
  
A sudden pang of loss crept into her heart once more at the thought of him, and she shook her head, humming a snatch of a tune to herself that Kattatsu had always sang to them before tucking them to sleep at night as children, about stars and distance and change and eternity and love. It had a calming effect on her, as it always did, even though the voice which said the words was a bit to similar to the one who used it first.  
  
{{Hai, he was his grandfather..... }} she thought to herself as she held a hand before her face, quickly letting it slide to her side because it made her uncomfortable. {{Well, what to do now... I know I heard the stream nearby, and if everything else is the same, it ought to be there still...}}  
  
The faint sound of running water came to her again, and she smiled, continuing in the right direction.  
  
---  
  
A few minutes later her feet stepped from the forest into a clearing where a translucent pond formed in the flow of the stream she'd been following, the water sparkling a soft green and an even more lovely scent, to her at least, than anything hands could ever make. Swiftly she bent down, cupping her hands in the water and bringing to her nose for a moment before drinking deeply, and smiling. This was the place alright.  
  
Stepping back, she reached her hands to loosen her belt, but stopped. She was still in Piccolo's body.  
  
Turning a bright fuchsia at the thought of what she'd nearly done, she reached her hands to her earrings and resumed her own form before continuing.  
  
A slight yelp passed her lips as she waded in- it was wonderfully warm, but still a bit colder than she'd thought. Shrugging it off, she giggled slightly {{It's been forever since I've been able to feel homeworld water.... Chiuku's is nice, but it just feels too hard, not soft at all like good water should be....}}  
  
Her train of thought was interrupted as she dunked her head underwater, but she picked it back up as she used her claws to scrape at the remaining grime {{Same with the air, and the soil, and the plants... Nothing is sweeter than Nameksei, especially when the adjica are in full bloom.... You can show me whatever beautiful thing you like, but nothing can match the adjica. *smiles* Ah, but I forgot him....}}  
  
Grabbing her gi off the bank, she scrubbed it thoroughly with her hands, working them through the fabric like a baker kneading dough to soften it and pull out any impurities they might find. The cool green water flowed through airily, helping her along with her task and washing away the mud down the stream and off into the forest. She sung softly to herself the tune from before, and without the odd likeness in voice this time, it was far more relaxing for her, a smile slipping across her sapphire eyes.  
  
After a few minutes, she laid the wet gi on the bank again and stood up, shaking her head to sent the droplets flying in every direction. She was about to dry them with her ki, get dressed and go, when something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She blinked, and turned her head to the opposite shore, about twenty-five feet off.  
  
Slack-jawed, the water pail clasped in his hand long since forgotten, stood Osu, eyes wide with shock.  
  
  
~~NOTE- late again //. 


	68. Scar

___Chapter 67___  
  
~~~ Musical inspiration- "Superman", Five for Fighting and a mix of a song called "Dancin' in the dark" with Pete Yorn's "Murray", "'Caus it already is", Pete Yorn. ~~~  
  
Raining again.  
  
Since work on the lookout had resumed again, and the original 'runners' were nowhere to be found, that title was bequeathed to the next strongest. So in place of the bandit and the triclops man, the android and the triclops man's wife took up the burden.  
  
Yen had leapt at the chance to get out of the kitchen and enjoy the sunshine and breeze and some companionship.  
  
Instead, she found herself out in the rain with Juuhachigou. Needless to say, she was disappointed. But not as disappointed as she'd be when she actually tried to LIFT one of those things.... as tough as she was compared to the normal person, she was nothing in the world of the senshi, especially when paired with 18. In the rain. And hungry. And cold. And miserable. And with noone to talk to. And on and on and on.  
  
Eventually her bitching got so bad it even pissed off the android, who tripped her and went off carrying the wall section on her own.  
  
The triclops woman just laughed, saying to noone but herself "Heh, I guess that means I'm relieved of duty... I was wondering how much longer it'd be until she knocked me out..." Shaking her hair out after finding something to hide under, she flared a slight chi-flame around herself to keep dry and strolled out, wondering what else there was to do.  
  
---  
  
"Bulmaaaaaaa!!!"  
  
"'Bulma' nothing! I can't lift THAT!"  
  
"I can't pick it up!"  
  
"Neither can I!"  
  
"Comeon, I told you I'll use my mind to make it lighter, I just need someone else to pick it up, it really won't be that heavy..."  
  
"You're crazy if you think I'm buying that."  
  
"But it's true!"  
  
"Then pick it up and show me, Chautzu!"  
  
"If I'm trying to concentrate to make it lighter, I can't do anything else!"  
  
"I don't believe you."  
  
"BULMA!!!!"  
  
"Um..... guys......."  
  
"BULMA!!! How can't you believe me?"  
  
"Heh, doll boy, pick up your own wall, I'm not doing it for you."  
  
"Um....... guys........"  
  
"I can't imagine why you don't trust me! I wouldn't ask you to pick it up if it would hurt you!"  
  
"Well, I'm not one of your other friends Chautzu, our definitions of 'light' probably vary a little!"  
  
".... GUYS!!!!!!!"  
  
The two bickerers stopped suddenly, turning their heads to Yen, asking simultaneously "Yes? What do you want?"  
  
"*sighs* I've been standing here for the last five minutes, trying to get your attention! Now, are you listening?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Good. I'm sick of hearing you argue like little kids or an old married couple, take your pick. How about I PICK it up, you all SHUT up, and if it crushes me, I get Tien to kick your sorry little pale ass. Ok?"  
  
Chautzu gave her an odd look for a moment before sighing and shrugging his shoulders in a 'whatever' fashion. "Alright, we'll try that."  
  
With a faint apprehensious glint in her ebony eyes, she rolled up her sleeves and waited for Chautzu to give her a sign he was ready...... alright. Gritting her teeth, she slipped her hands under the massive block of wall, and jerked it upward with all her strength, preparing for the worst.  
  
Which is basically what she got, but not how she'd expected.  
  
As soon as her hands pulled up, it went flying off like a shot-put cross the length of the entire Tenkai, calling the attention of every last person there to the facefaulting hazel-skinned woman who was glaring darkly at a paler than usual Chautzu.  
  
And all he had to say for himself was "Woah.... I guess I don't know my own strength...."  
  
---  
  
Her heart was beating like a jackhammer, for a moment she just stood there in full view of those befuddled black eyes before her mind screamed at her to move, and she bolted in the opposite direction, grabbing for her gi on the bank. Running away blindly, she didn't even notice someone in her path until she fell right on top of him.  
  
The impact knocked her to the side, and Oboe could only squawk in surprise before her head jolted into a tree trunk, and knew no more.  
  
---  
  
It was some time before the world stopped swimming around her, and longer still after blacking out until it swam back in. But she definitely wasn't in the forest anymore. The air was still here, no breezes blowing the rich scent of adjica all about her. Something was halting the airflow. She was inside somewhere, lying underneath a blanket on a cot, her gi next to her.....  
  
Jolting up with a cry as everything flooded back into her mind, she clenched the blanket around her, confused and terrified before a strange voice shouted "Calm down! I'm not going to hurt you!", both comforting and further confusing her. Oboe turned her head, antennae whipping into her face as she looked to glimpse another nameckian sitting near the end of her cot, hands held out both to show that he wasn't hiding a chi blast and to shield his face  
  
She opened her mouth to scream again, but another look at him identified him as someone she'd seen before, not too long ago..... as she realized who, her heart rate slowed to somewhere normal, and he lowered his arms.  
  
"Gods.... I thought you were going to kill me there...." he chuckled, abit nervously, but still with that tone it had held the first time she heard it.  
  
Blinking twice, Oboe cocked her head to the side, sapphire irises glinting slightly as she mumbled "Are you.... the one from the village, Swiftu's-"  
  
"Hai, hai, tatacha. You're not going to shoot, right?"  
  
"I wouldn't imagine so. I don't think my brother would appreciate that."  
  
The only reply she got was that musical laughter  
  
"But I don't believe I ever caught your name...."  
  
"Hayai. It's Hayai. Noone ever accused my anoco of being overly imaginative."  
  
She smiled, softly. "Hai......... *closes her eyes* We all loved him, though.... dearly...."  
  
"You really do go off about memories, don't you?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Sorry if I'm being rude, tatacha. Anoco just said you were like that."  
  
Sitting up a bit straighter, but still clenching the blanket around her shoulders, she rolled her eyes and replied "You're just as blunt as he was.... is.... damnit, too confusing. H- Hayai, was it?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"How did you...."  
  
"Know? *cocks his head to the side, an amused look to his face* It's not like there's anyone I could have mistaken you with. We're short on female nameckians these days. And you sort of ran right into me."  
  
Suddenly re-reminded of what had happened, a violently violet (no pun) blush crossed over her emerald cheeks.  
  
"Well, you did. You know, you terrified that little guy. He's a good kid, and a namek besides- he didn't do anything on purpose. He'd only been punished to go get water for his anoco and elder, and had picked the wrong place at the wrong time."  
  
"I... know. We met him before, and two others..."  
  
"You don't need to tell me. Osu already did."  
  
"What?"  
  
The young man sat up, grinning out the side of his mouth, looking all the world like his father had at that age- "When I found him he'd passed out, but it was easy enough to throw him in the pond and wake him up. He was totally petrified with confusion, except for his mouth. *laughs slightly* Osu started babbling like he was crazy or something.... I tried convincing him he'd imagined it, but it wouldn't work."  
  
"How long had he-"  
  
"Longer than you'd think. He saw you change, Oboe-san."  
  
She raised her head- that was the first time he'd called her by name. But it wasn't a pleasant look he got- it was a pained expression, barely separate from the one you'd expect to see on someone right before they broke down and cried. But she didn't cry, just stared at him like that for the longest time before bowing her head so low it nearly knocked into her knees.  
  
"Hai, where was I again?" he asked himself aloud, knowing better than to comment on her mood, "Oh, that. I tried to speak to him, but.. *shakes his head* he ran off. And I couldn't exactly leave you lying there- gods know what could have happened- so I brought you back here about fifteen minutes ago."  
  
"This...." and as she spoke, she sat back up again, almost but not quite forgetting the blanket, her voice full of quiet wonderment as she looked around her surroundings, "is......."  
  
"Hai."  
  
"You don't even know what I was a-"  
  
"It is my anoco's house. He never had much time to spend here while you were around, what with the training with the others and all, but still."  
  
"But-" by now her head was spinning again- "That was-"  
  
"Destroyed in the storms? This world is a strange place, tatacha. Not even we namekisan-jin who call this our homeworld understand all her secrets. I remember the old world well. Not as you knew it, but when for everyone but me Saichoro-sama was father."  
  
Oboe blinked, and before thinking blurted "That means you-"  
  
He winced at the last word, but before she could try to apologize he waved her off. "Hai, that's true as well....." came quietly from his lips, all amusement gone from the voice, "Anoco'd been staying by Saichoro-sama's side because he was ailing, and I was wandering on my own when I came across a village under attack... I actually fought off one of the weakest random guys, but then I got blasted, glanced right through my skull.... If I'd gotten anoco, maybe we could have saved the village- there were only lower-rank minions there, noone he couldn't have handled- but I thought I could do it on my own. I really did. And so we all died. Not just me, not just the innocents, but some truly great fighters...... I was too proud to get help. *buries his face in his hands* Young teens have a thing about thinking they're on the top of the world, that they can take on anything... That's why I kept this-"  
  
With a gesture of his hands he pointed to his left ear, or what remained of it- the entire top half of it was gone, the edge of the stump and a semicircle on the side of his head discolored. "To remind myself not to be so reckless." A very faint grin passed his lips, and he added offhand "And the kids always love to hear stories about us warriors. The elders are great, but they need someone they can look up to, so we tell them our stories and the lessons we've learned and serve as a mix between mentors and older brothers. They're the fighter kids, the crazy little ones who don't listen to what they're told- like your son, but multiply that by the fact that they always travel in packs. *laughs* But they've got good intentions and big hearts, there's just too much life in those little bodies of theirs for them to sit still too long. The healer kids are quieter, spend most of their time with the old ones and the elders- I actually like them as much as the others, because they're quite mature. They don't want to hear your war stories, but they're very understanding. If something from your past is haunting you, you can always find one of them to talk to- they'll help you get over it."  
  
Without looking up, Hayai pulled himself to his feet and strode over to a domed window, his long sulfur vest flowing out behind him like his father's had, whipping with his movements. "It's getting late. I've got to go find Osu, before he does something stupid- kids always do something stupid... *touches a hand to his ear* You just stay here, rest, get dressed, get something to drink- I'll do what I can for a fellow warrior. Not to mention the fact that my anoco's in there somewhere..." and before another word could be said, he turned on his heel and in three long strides was out the door, leaving behind only a flurry of chi to show he was ever there at all.  
  
---  
  
The wind blew gently through the hills, the azure foliage swaying in it's embrace. Namecksei's ever-bright sky was cloudless, and the sweet scent of adjica wafted everywhere. Third sun was high in the sky, marking it as evening.  
  
Amid the swirl of breezes floated a bit of salmon, highlighted against the lime of the sky. It floated about aimlessly on the winds, drifting over a tributary stream leading to the sea. If it'd been capable of thought, it probably would have been wondering who the two lying on the shore were- their skin was different than any that had been on the homeworld in quite some time- the taller was kicking his feet, humming to himself and keeping a steady hand on three orange orbs besides him. The shorter of the two was cursing under his breath and rubbing his short hair, as if trying to get it to grow faster. No such luck. So he just sighed, folded his arms behind his head, and plopped to the ground, staring at the sky before closing his eyes. The petal suddenly stopped it's flight, as it was plucked out of the air by a small pair of emerald hands.  
  
---  
  
Lute giggled aloud, trying to keep hold on the rather large thing- it was a third the size of him- but just then a tremendous burst of wind shot through, billowing the sides of the petal out like a sail and dragging it out into the sky, passenger and all.  
  
---  
  
Gohan glanced up when he felt the more powerful breeze pass by, his calm eyes looking out. Then his jaw dropped.  
  
"VEGETA!!!!!!!!!!!!" was the only warning the sayian got before he nearly got run over by the halfling's panicked charge. Glaring and reaching out to snag his white collar, he jerked Gohan back and shouted in his face "WHAT IS IT??? You would have trampled me if I hadn't moved, bakayaro!"  
  
Pointing up above the hilltop behind them, Gohan screeched "THAT!!!" and raced off after it. Vegeta could only stand there dumbly for a moment, before murmuring to himself "He's a kite.......", laughing out loud, and racing on after him shouting "GET YOUR LITTLE GREEN ASS DOWN HERE!!!!!", with the only reply being a chorus of giddy laughter that filled the entire sky.  
  
  
  
~~~ NOTE- if anyone hasn't picked that up yet, 'tatacha' is namek-go for 'aunt'. Swiftu made it up. And as for Hayai's comment- his name means 'Swift" in Japanese. Ciao ~~~ 


	69. Sun and shadow

___Chapter 68___  
  
~~NOTE- back again- SERIOUS thanks to everyone who's been reviewing me (the sudden explosion threw me for a loop- over 200 in all?), it truly is one of, if not the, greatest inspirations and spirit-lifters of all //.^ Musical inspiration- "Aqueous transmission" and "Are you in?", Incubus  
-  
Remember back in C29? Well, if you haven't guessed, this chapter begins with another flashback- so except when she's being spoken to, the younger Oboe will be referred to as 'Chibi' ~~  
  
  
Bright laughter permeated every inch, every corner, every side of the sunlight clearing, startling birds in a nearby tree into flight. Azure feathers flew everywhere, some swirling about and being carried off by the wind, but most of them simply spinning a few moments before flitting softly to the long grass, their hues blending together so well as to make them indistinguishable from one another. But before the silence could be restored, another shout broke it-  
  
"SWIFTU!!!!!!!!!"  
  
The indignant nameckian girl glared in the sort of half-hearted fury which only a child can seem to pull off without coming off as immature, hands on her hips, a furious blush on her emerald cheeks. "How DARE you scare me like that, jumping out of nowhere! Don't you have anything to say for yourself??"  
  
She wasn't granted with her answer (well not directly anyways) because brother-in-question was still too busy perching on a tree limb laughing his ass off.   
  
"You should have seen your FACE!!!"  
  
"THAT'S NOT FUNNY!!"  
  
"Well, maybe not over there, but from where I'm standing it was."  
  
"Ooh... If only I could...."  
  
"What? Comeon Oboe-chan, you couldn't surprise me if you tried. Heh, I'd like to see anyone-" The cocky expression vanished from his face in a yelp as someone grabbed onto his foot, tossing him haphazardly into the ground.  
  
Swift glared so hard his eyes crossed, and he only got to half shout a protest before the unavoidable reply came- "What were you saying, Swiftu? 'See anyone YAAH'?"  
  
The nameckian stood back up, dusting off his long blue-black vest, pointedly ignoring the broad grin on the face next to him. He knew there was no point in arguing with Bolt- in semantics, his black-indigo eyed friend almost always won. Swift settled for a shorter resignation.  
  
"Very funny, you jackass. Can we get going or what?"  
  
Bolt just grinned in his usual lopsided manner for a few seconds before nodding, treading off ahead of them in their predestined direction. As Swift moved to catch up with his friend, he became aware that his aecha (to use Ragnoroc's term) had fallen into step beside him, her little legs working like hell to keep up with his longer strides. The sight brought a smile to his face, almost making him feel bad about startling her earlier...  
  
Chibi hadn't been focusing on anything but her aching feet when she felt a pair of arms sweep her up into the air, the bright blues of the forest foliage passing by her in a blur before she found herself planted firmly- but still moving. She was quite befuddled for a few moments at this before glancing down to see the back of her aeco's head.  
  
Laughter rose again from the older nameckian as he heard her squeak of surprise. Suddenly he found himself in the mood for competition again- flaring up his chi, he blasted ahead of Bolt, flipping him off as he shot by, Chibi giggling madly on his shoulders.  
  
It wasn't five seconds later before Swift had to kick it up a notch- he'd gotten the expected rise out of the other, and now it was time to get his ass moving or get it beat.  
  
The forest flew by the three of them, all the scenery and the sounds and smells and the heat of their competitor's chis fuzzing together into a seemingly non-ending crazy blur. Everything was one, was together, was right, was good, there seemed to be no sadness or pain, as if that all was just a memory of some fading dream, and if only for a few minutes, it was the purest of joys, the joy of life itself.  
  
They barely even noticed their destination upon reaching it- the 'house' had never been much to look at- simple nameckian design, big enough for two\three small rooms at most, and very obviously put together by amateur hands. But it was their place, and they'd know it anywhere, thus stopping short to avoid running into it.  
  
Swift and Bolt stood in silence for a moment, admiring their handiwork of a few years past. Most of the time they were training with the others and being taught by their sensei, but each year they were given time off for personal meditation, or at least that's what it was suppose to be for. Only Frost seemed to actually meditate- everyone else just wandered off on their own with one or two others. After they'd gotten pounded by a days-long rainstorm one year, The two had decided to do something about it- thus the thing that stood before them.  
  
This was Chibi's first retreat- Damaiou had decided to go home, but she'd been too curious to. Besides, she'd made it a point to sneak off and play with Palidor-chan whenever possible, and she was always able to see her father- him being the Great Elder and all. Swift had invited her to come along with Bolt to their place, so she'd accepted heartily.  
  
Now the sun was falling, night was coming, and everyone felt drained- but as usual, the second cot was missing (It'd gotten used as target practice by accident years ago, and noone had bothered to replace it), so they were all on one- the two friends curled up like the Pisces- one's feet to the other's head, little Chibi snuggled in-between.  
  
Though it had only taken her aeco and Bolt-san about five minutes to drift off into soft sleep-breathing, Chibi felt too excited to rest... instead she just laid back, feeling the comfort of their warmth-giving forms, knowing they'd chase the dreams away if anything could.....  
  
~~~~~~~  
  
Oboe's eyes flitted open quickly, blue sapphires quivering- the vision had come so suddenly, felt so real...  
  
Stepping away from the doorway, she turned back to the now-empty, now-silent room. They were dead, both of them. No need to be haunted by spirits...  
  
---  
  
"Rain, rain, go to hell....."  
  
"Bulma- do us all a favor and SHUT UP."  
  
"SON-KUN????"  
  
All heads shot around at that- all three of them staring at the wet-headed sayia-jin. It had been raining the whole day, puddles and mist and gloom were the prevailing feelings, everyone wet and miserable, Son's 100x gravity-resistant hair was even sagging- but his mood? It sounded impossible, but had all that wet gotten to even the cheeriest of souls and left it sapped?  
  
Yen was the first to speak afterwards- "Hey, people! Let's stop catching flies and keep moving? We dropped off the thing, let go get the next one."  
  
Noone moved. Chautzu sweatdropped. Son just stared at then glumly, his locks drooping so low into his face that they nearly hid his eyes. Bulma didn't look like much of anything except freezing in her tank-top and jean-shorts. Yen, wanting desperately to break the awkward silence and get her ass back into the nice dry kitchen for a margarita, glanced Juuhachigou approaching, and waved franticly to her.  
  
At the sound the android looked up in mid-stride, cocked her head to the side and was about to speak when she put the raised foot down- and promptly disappeared from view with a 'crash'.  
  
THAT got everyone's attention.  
  
They snapped out of their collective stupor and raced over, calling out her name. Stopping short of falling in the freshly-formed pit, four pairs (plus Yen's third) of eyes peered into the blackness. Always eager to charge forward blindly, Son leapt down amid the trickles and echoes of raindrops into the.... cavern... silent save forming puddles and his footfalls.  
  
18 was nowhere to be found.  
  
---  
  
A dismal feeling seemed to be everywhere across the worlds this day- even though the weather was far more beautiful than on Western Chiukusei, Hayai was certainly feeling his own pressure on Nameksei.  
  
Nothing. No sign of Osu anywhere....  
  
"Damnit, can't I even keep track of my own charges?" he cursed aloud, sulfur vest fluttering long behind him, his eyes skimming the surface of the planet below. But he couldn't stop worrying about the child or his possible actions to keep a frantic stream of thought from flowing constantly back and forth in his mind.  
  
{{I mean, Muuri and Takusan trusted me to take watch over the boy and his brother... I'm suppose to be their brother, their teacher, and I can't even keep good enough track of him to find his chi? He can't be suppressing it.. he doesn't yet know how.. does he? Damn, I don't even know... *lets out a low moan* I know that -I- was always ignoring anoco, following the other warriors around, trying to copy them.... nearly getting myself killed more than once.... Must all children be so.... so stupid? Gods, wasn't I enough fool for all of them, just enough to spare one from this......}}  
  
He probably would have kept it going, but something caught his ears- glancing down, his eyes narrowed, focusing on the village below. It was the hottest part of the day, one of two places- inside asleep if they were elders or healers or children, or training out in the wastes if they were dedicated warrior-types, but almost all the adults and elders were outside....  
  
It took him only a few seconds to land and stride up to the village elder's hut- where most of the commotion was centered- and pull someone aside to ask what all this was about. The other nameckian, barely out of his hatchling stage, cried out the answer in a mixture of shock and anger-  
  
"The dragonball was stolen!"  
  
  
~~~NOTE- euh.... late again... but as I said before, I'm not stopping writing. As long as I can still breathe, I'll keep writing this story, I swear it to myself and all of you. *nods quietly* I'm hoping to get the next part as soon as I can mix together everything I want to do with the little time I have free.... ciao till then. ~~~ 


End file.
